My sweet friend, Rachel, who is an amazing mom, tagged me to write 8 things about one of my children. I'm actually going to pick two, Caleb and Moriah, because you don't hear too much about them. Here we go...
Caleb~
1. Wants to be a farmer when he grows up.
2. Was born with a crooked thumb that was stuck in one position until one day when it popped and has been fine ever since.
3. Has an amazing ability to build anything he sets his mind to. A few weeks ago Haven was congested and my aunt mentioned we should find a way to elevate his bed. Caleb went to the computer, used Glen's architect program to design an incline thing, went to the basement and build a little incline out of 2x4s that worked perfectly! Did I mention he's a lot like his dad? :o)
4. Has a very sensitive spirit and will be the first to admit it to his family, albeit he would be pretty embarassed to admit it to anyone else. I write often about how Ethan is so outwardly affectionate, well, Caleb is more of a strong silent type. He can often be found giving me a sweet smile from across the room, or just coming up and putting his arm around me and giving me a kiss. :o)
5. Reminds me totally of Opie on Andy Griffifth and has since he was little. I can't watch an episode without feeling like I'm watching Caleb. Opie is also completely what I imagine my Dad looking like as a kid, therefore, Caleb kind of personifies what I imagine my Dad like as a kid.
6. Could live outside and has an obsession with hunting, carving, climbing, digging, building, and all things boy related.
7. Had to endure being sent to co-op with Egyptian face paint on one day last year, only to discover that hey!...Mom got Egyptian day WRONG!! Poor guy, luckily it washed off easily :o) (In my defense, I do have to tell you it was his teacher's fault. The calendar clearly said it was Egyptian Day, and to this day I am not sure how all the other moms knew it was two days later. When he came home that day, the teacher had marked off Egyptian Day and drawn an arrow to Thursday. That was NOT done earlier, I had checked the calendar several times as I had preggo brain and wanted to avoid just such a scenario).
8. The kid can eat any entire footlong Subway sandwich by himself and still say he is hungry! We call him the "vaccum" :o) He will say he is done with dinner, but give him about 15 minutes and anything left sitting around is fair game. Seriously, what am I going to do when I have four of them, not to mention my girls can keep up with the boys' eating any day?!
bonus #9. Has a new found love of God's Word :o) He has been reading...yes, the Bible!!! Yay!
Moriah~
1. Has a small indention above her left ear that she was born with. The midwife was mystified. We later found out that in our extended family, Lori and Grant both also have this, but no one else that we know of.
2. Could eat macaroni and cheese for every meal and loves peanut m&ms.
3. Has this hilarious way of looking, for lack of a better way to describe it, weasle-ish when you ask her certain questions. She gets this very mischevious look on her face, wrinkles up her nose, and wrings her hands together while answering.
4. Is convinced that she is the queen and does, in fact, know everything. If you ask her a question, for example, how do you spell cat, she will say, "Well, you tell me, how do you spell cat? Do you know?" Once you answer her, she will act like the previous sentence never happened, and tell you, with all confidence, "You spell cat, c-a-t. See, I do know everything." It's quite a funny game we play.
5. Almost always beats everyone, hands down, at the slug bug game. You know where you try and find volkswagon beetles. And if on the rare occassion, you are beating her and announce "I have three, and you have none!" She will reply, with the same confidence mentioned in #4, "No you do not! I have three and you have zero!" Acting fully convinced that she is, in fact, winning. Another funny little game we play with her.
6. At family gatherings, can just as often be found playing with the bigger boys as she can her two girl cousins of her same age. I attribute this to her being born smack in the middle of four boys. She encompasses the best of both worlds. Fully girl in being obsessed with the purse she asked for at Christmas, complete with chapstick, keys, and inactivated cell phone that she charges periodically, as well as disappearing upstairs for hours playing house (along with somehow roping her brother into playing this with her and letting her be in charge even though he is older). She can just as easily be found attempting to get to the top of the tree with Caleb and playing Boxcar children way out in the woods, complete with tools, rope, slingshot, bow & arrows, etc. (think warrior princess).
We are really enjoying watching her personality blossom as she grows from toddler into little girl :o)
7. Is still a member of the pacifier club, although a secret member...shhh....
8. Refuses to wear dresses unless they are called long shirts. This is a great grief to me as I so enjoyed her first two years putting her in dresses over jeans complete with her long brown sweater coat...so cute! Hopefully she will grow out of it soon!
bonus #9. When I woke up one day last week, she was sitting at the table in her pajamas eating a bowl of cheerios, complete with pretending to read the back of the box and wearing... swimming goggles. She proceeded to look at me, smile, and while pointing at me with her two pointer fingers, said, "Hi toots!"
Okay, so I tag Jennifer at Homekeeping Heart (if you read this, not sure how much she keeps up, she's got quite the following over there...but I would like to hear about one of her little guys) and Wendy (I'd like to know more about Reanna!) I don't actually really know if many people read this at all, but if you do, I would love for you to leave me a comment and do a post with 8 fun things about at least one of your sweeties!
Happy Thursday!
31 January 2008
16 January 2008
a morning in my life~
Let's see if I can get through this without getting sidetracked - ha ha (wait, after I get Noah cheese)....
**call my great aunt and find out (again) just exactly how it is that she makes this amazing roast that is always delicious, regardless of the cut of meat, and hope i haven't waited too late for it to be done tonight
(noah asking for cheese again...crying because he can't have any more cheese...)
**fold last load of clothes out of dryer (close dryer...see previous post)
(noah stll crying for cheese...hold noah, nurse noah...finally distract him with paper clips from the desk drawer)
**just remembered, i want to make a list of things to put in these "school time boxes" i want to create. I want a different box for each day that I can use for Noah and sometimes Moriah to play with during school time.
**empty dishwasher, load dishwasher
**teach anna math lesson
**read some in The Mission of Motherhood. I felt like the Lord was telling me I should go through some of that to use next week when I am going to my friend's Bible study
**figure out what I am going to do for dinner if my aunt doesn't call me back soon
(helping Caleb with his review again....)
**think about taking a break in Caleb's math to do some review. he's a half year ahead, but I'm beginning to wonder if we need to take a break from "going through the book" to stop and just get some things down more solidly as he often needs help with things he's supposed to have already learned. I'm still liking the Singapore math a lot as it obviously was effective for Anna, and it does seem to be a good fit for him as well, we may just need to stop plodding through it and spend some time reviewing what he's learned so he doesn't always have to be reminded of how to do things. I spend a lot of time thinking about things and adding to my to do list...namely, re-evaluating.
(noah is back, ,slightly fussy, currently distracted with my ipod earphones, haven might possibly be awake, going to start thinking about lunch. ethan is finished with school, he's talking to caleb who is working on math, now noah is there)
(teaching anna her math, see caleb come in from outside, (when did he go outside?), and why is he not doing his math? okay, he is doing his math, he went outside (it's only 35 degrees!), with a blanket so he can sit under the table and cover the table with the blanket to keep the wind away. now he's coming back in because he forgot his pencil. now ethan wants to go out...now noah wants to go out...ahhh! now caleb is upset because he's trying to "get away from everyone" thankfully, anna's lesson is easy today, so it only took me a minute to explain it to her)
what i plan on doing during nap time~
**go through the wordly wise books i have and decide where to start anna. she just finished her last explode the code book and is ready to start something else. I am planning on starting her in the wordly wise b book, but she may be a little beyond that. her spelling is not that great though, so I may decided to go ahead and do it hoping it helps improve her spelling.
**go through daily grams books I got and decide if I want to add in a grammer page for her to do every day
**go through new spelling books (1st and 2cnd grade) and decide if I want to add that in for anyone (so far none of our kids are naturally born good spellers) or if that should be a later focus.
**spend detailed time going over anna's math from the last few lessons and see what she has gotton down well, and what still needs work. she's doing really well in her new math, but i've been having her do an entire saxon lesson every day so i can get a feel of what needs more focus. an entire saxon lesson is a lot. when i did saxon, we often just did even/odd problems, and now that i'm ready to possibly add in the above mentioned things, i need to reduce the math load.
(pausing to put in letter factory video for moriah and noah)
**in the above three decisions, factor in my newly realized/accepted/revealed priority that character training is more foundational at young ages, academics should come second, and go from there. I would like to spend some time writing about this in the near future. It is making for a significant change in my thinking and priorities and some concrete changes around here in the present, and for our schooling next year. I am very excited about it!
(checking ethan's math, realize i either wrote down anna's work for the next two weeks in the wrong notebook, now realize i didn't write down her work yet as i'm still deciding whether to add in the above mentioned things, thankfully, she can get started on her math on her own and do her reading on her own. finished checking ethan's work, helped him make a few corrections, now caleb is standing here needing help on his math review....hold on a minute...)
**make above decisions and plan out Anna's work for the next two weeks
**decide how i'm going to handle a situation I became aware of yesterday. I hate to go upstairs, but I've realized I am going to have to start going up there to check jobs consistently. I went up yesterday to do some heavy cleaning/organizing and realized my lovely, responsible children have been major job slackers. Think: how fast can I do my job, not how well can I do my job. I can't even begin to elaborate, but it really is confirmation (break up car fight between ethan and moriah, realize I really need to come up with a little more of a constructive plan for when ethan finishes his school early and what Moriah should be doing after the letter factory video...thinking about some quote having something to do with idle hands...??? or something like that. see..more re-evaluating) we need a change in focus/priorities around here. So I really need to spend some time deciding on jobs/quality factor/ consistency/consequences for not doing something properly when one is perfectly capable of it.
**i have got to spend some time writing out the order my kids need to do their various school subjects in. up until this point i've pretty much let them go in the order they want, but as you can see, i sometimes have a line of people waiting to ask me things. i need to plan it out so that i am helping one of them while the others are working on more independant work and/or having a scheduled play time with a smaller kid. this has been on my to do radar for months, i have got to do it!
Well, that's about all I have time for posting for now. Maybe if I actually drag myself away from writing about what I need to do, I'll actually be able to accomplish some of it :o)
**call my great aunt and find out (again) just exactly how it is that she makes this amazing roast that is always delicious, regardless of the cut of meat, and hope i haven't waited too late for it to be done tonight
(noah asking for cheese again...crying because he can't have any more cheese...)
**fold last load of clothes out of dryer (close dryer...see previous post)
(noah stll crying for cheese...hold noah, nurse noah...finally distract him with paper clips from the desk drawer)
**just remembered, i want to make a list of things to put in these "school time boxes" i want to create. I want a different box for each day that I can use for Noah and sometimes Moriah to play with during school time.
**empty dishwasher, load dishwasher
**teach anna math lesson
**read some in The Mission of Motherhood. I felt like the Lord was telling me I should go through some of that to use next week when I am going to my friend's Bible study
**figure out what I am going to do for dinner if my aunt doesn't call me back soon
(helping Caleb with his review again....)
**think about taking a break in Caleb's math to do some review. he's a half year ahead, but I'm beginning to wonder if we need to take a break from "going through the book" to stop and just get some things down more solidly as he often needs help with things he's supposed to have already learned. I'm still liking the Singapore math a lot as it obviously was effective for Anna, and it does seem to be a good fit for him as well, we may just need to stop plodding through it and spend some time reviewing what he's learned so he doesn't always have to be reminded of how to do things. I spend a lot of time thinking about things and adding to my to do list...namely, re-evaluating.
(noah is back, ,slightly fussy, currently distracted with my ipod earphones, haven might possibly be awake, going to start thinking about lunch. ethan is finished with school, he's talking to caleb who is working on math, now noah is there)
(teaching anna her math, see caleb come in from outside, (when did he go outside?), and why is he not doing his math? okay, he is doing his math, he went outside (it's only 35 degrees!), with a blanket so he can sit under the table and cover the table with the blanket to keep the wind away. now he's coming back in because he forgot his pencil. now ethan wants to go out...now noah wants to go out...ahhh! now caleb is upset because he's trying to "get away from everyone" thankfully, anna's lesson is easy today, so it only took me a minute to explain it to her)
what i plan on doing during nap time~
**go through the wordly wise books i have and decide where to start anna. she just finished her last explode the code book and is ready to start something else. I am planning on starting her in the wordly wise b book, but she may be a little beyond that. her spelling is not that great though, so I may decided to go ahead and do it hoping it helps improve her spelling.
**go through daily grams books I got and decide if I want to add in a grammer page for her to do every day
**go through new spelling books (1st and 2cnd grade) and decide if I want to add that in for anyone (so far none of our kids are naturally born good spellers) or if that should be a later focus.
**spend detailed time going over anna's math from the last few lessons and see what she has gotton down well, and what still needs work. she's doing really well in her new math, but i've been having her do an entire saxon lesson every day so i can get a feel of what needs more focus. an entire saxon lesson is a lot. when i did saxon, we often just did even/odd problems, and now that i'm ready to possibly add in the above mentioned things, i need to reduce the math load.
(pausing to put in letter factory video for moriah and noah)
**in the above three decisions, factor in my newly realized/accepted/revealed priority that character training is more foundational at young ages, academics should come second, and go from there. I would like to spend some time writing about this in the near future. It is making for a significant change in my thinking and priorities and some concrete changes around here in the present, and for our schooling next year. I am very excited about it!
(checking ethan's math, realize i either wrote down anna's work for the next two weeks in the wrong notebook, now realize i didn't write down her work yet as i'm still deciding whether to add in the above mentioned things, thankfully, she can get started on her math on her own and do her reading on her own. finished checking ethan's work, helped him make a few corrections, now caleb is standing here needing help on his math review....hold on a minute...)
**make above decisions and plan out Anna's work for the next two weeks
**decide how i'm going to handle a situation I became aware of yesterday. I hate to go upstairs, but I've realized I am going to have to start going up there to check jobs consistently. I went up yesterday to do some heavy cleaning/organizing and realized my lovely, responsible children have been major job slackers. Think: how fast can I do my job, not how well can I do my job. I can't even begin to elaborate, but it really is confirmation (break up car fight between ethan and moriah, realize I really need to come up with a little more of a constructive plan for when ethan finishes his school early and what Moriah should be doing after the letter factory video...thinking about some quote having something to do with idle hands...??? or something like that. see..more re-evaluating) we need a change in focus/priorities around here. So I really need to spend some time deciding on jobs/quality factor/ consistency/consequences for not doing something properly when one is perfectly capable of it.
**i have got to spend some time writing out the order my kids need to do their various school subjects in. up until this point i've pretty much let them go in the order they want, but as you can see, i sometimes have a line of people waiting to ask me things. i need to plan it out so that i am helping one of them while the others are working on more independant work and/or having a scheduled play time with a smaller kid. this has been on my to do radar for months, i have got to do it!
Well, that's about all I have time for posting for now. Maybe if I actually drag myself away from writing about what I need to do, I'll actually be able to accomplish some of it :o)
on my to do list serious dryer warning~
Seeing as how I have exactly 18 minutes until Bible time is officially supposed to begin, I thought I'd take a minute to jot down what I'm trying to accomplish today and a few things I'm thinking about and want to do. Just a little glimpse into my life...
*I just put the last load of clothes into my dryer - yipee! My laundry is all done, until tonight of course when they'll just fill it back up again. Monday is technically my laundry day, but anyone with little kids knows how that goes. Further complicating things is the fact that Haven's bed sits against the otherside of the same wall as the washer and dryer, so I try to not disturb his napping. And furthermore, my husband is an incredibly particular sleeper and has to have things "just so" in order to go to bed - lest any of you think he is completely perfect :o) So no laundry at night.
***HUGE BIG NOTE WHILE I'M THINKING ABOUT IT - NEVER LEAVE YOUR DRYER OPEN! LAST WEEK GLEN AND I FOUND NOAH STUCK IN THE DRYER! (this is the point where my sister flips out) THANKFULLY, HE HAD ONLY BEEN IN THERE FOR A FEW SECONDS AND STILL THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY, BUT GLEN AND I WERE HORRIFIED AND WE ARE NOT "FREAK OUT" PARENTS (AS I LIKE TO JOKE). Noah loves to be my laundry helper and most nights you can find us after dinner in the laundry room with me handing him each article of clothing individually and him throwing it in the dryer saying "Ca-wub's shuwt" or whatever it is. Well, this particular night all the laundry was folded and put away, we had just finished. I never leave the dryer open, and I'm not sure why I did that night, but nevertheless, a few minutes later, he had climbed in and shut the door on himself. Our dryer has a window so he could see out. Glen happened to walk by and I'm not sure what prompted him to check (well I do know, it was obviously the Lord). He opened the door and got him out, told him quite sternly "No, no! We don't play in the dryer, you can get hurt! That will hurt Noah!" I happened to be right there as soon as it happened. My first thoughts were; we need to tell the other kids, would he do it again, and what would happen if Glen had not found him. I suggested we put him down, leave the dryer door open again, and see what would happen so we could kind of guage the situation. Those of you that know me, know that I have a slight hearing problem, not huge (I still often hear Haven waking up before anyone else), but enough that I depend a little on my other kids to tell me things sometimes. So, we walk away from Noah, he climbs back in, and closes the door. We decide to watch, but don't want to wait too long not knowing how much oxygen is really in there, but want to see how the situation plays out, will he get scared, will he cry, will I hear him if he cries? So, we turn off the laundry room light (again, we don't want to wait too long) and stand around the corner. Sure enough, he started to cry and we can barely, barely hear him. It was very scary, and very serious. This was at night, after all the other kids were in bed, if it happened during the day and there was noise, there is no way we would have heard him. I don't know how loud he would have to get to be heard, but I'm not going to be testing that! Anyway, Glen got him out, spanked him, we both talked very, very sternly to him, etc. and talked to all the other kids about what happened and how dangerous it could be. Thankfully, leaving the dryer door open is not a habit any of us has, but you can bet we are now making extra sure that it stays closed!
So much for my to do list, it's now four minutes past Bible time!! My seven year old son is turning this into let's sneak a sandwich time! Gotta go. I had been wanting to write about the dryer thing though, seeing as how mostly everyone I know has a dryer and little kids...this is the part where I remind myself that the Lord is watching over them and I am trusting Him to keep them all safe. Period.
*I just put the last load of clothes into my dryer - yipee! My laundry is all done, until tonight of course when they'll just fill it back up again. Monday is technically my laundry day, but anyone with little kids knows how that goes. Further complicating things is the fact that Haven's bed sits against the otherside of the same wall as the washer and dryer, so I try to not disturb his napping. And furthermore, my husband is an incredibly particular sleeper and has to have things "just so" in order to go to bed - lest any of you think he is completely perfect :o) So no laundry at night.
***HUGE BIG NOTE WHILE I'M THINKING ABOUT IT - NEVER LEAVE YOUR DRYER OPEN! LAST WEEK GLEN AND I FOUND NOAH STUCK IN THE DRYER! (this is the point where my sister flips out) THANKFULLY, HE HAD ONLY BEEN IN THERE FOR A FEW SECONDS AND STILL THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY, BUT GLEN AND I WERE HORRIFIED AND WE ARE NOT "FREAK OUT" PARENTS (AS I LIKE TO JOKE). Noah loves to be my laundry helper and most nights you can find us after dinner in the laundry room with me handing him each article of clothing individually and him throwing it in the dryer saying "Ca-wub's shuwt" or whatever it is. Well, this particular night all the laundry was folded and put away, we had just finished. I never leave the dryer open, and I'm not sure why I did that night, but nevertheless, a few minutes later, he had climbed in and shut the door on himself. Our dryer has a window so he could see out. Glen happened to walk by and I'm not sure what prompted him to check (well I do know, it was obviously the Lord). He opened the door and got him out, told him quite sternly "No, no! We don't play in the dryer, you can get hurt! That will hurt Noah!" I happened to be right there as soon as it happened. My first thoughts were; we need to tell the other kids, would he do it again, and what would happen if Glen had not found him. I suggested we put him down, leave the dryer door open again, and see what would happen so we could kind of guage the situation. Those of you that know me, know that I have a slight hearing problem, not huge (I still often hear Haven waking up before anyone else), but enough that I depend a little on my other kids to tell me things sometimes. So, we walk away from Noah, he climbs back in, and closes the door. We decide to watch, but don't want to wait too long not knowing how much oxygen is really in there, but want to see how the situation plays out, will he get scared, will he cry, will I hear him if he cries? So, we turn off the laundry room light (again, we don't want to wait too long) and stand around the corner. Sure enough, he started to cry and we can barely, barely hear him. It was very scary, and very serious. This was at night, after all the other kids were in bed, if it happened during the day and there was noise, there is no way we would have heard him. I don't know how loud he would have to get to be heard, but I'm not going to be testing that! Anyway, Glen got him out, spanked him, we both talked very, very sternly to him, etc. and talked to all the other kids about what happened and how dangerous it could be. Thankfully, leaving the dryer door open is not a habit any of us has, but you can bet we are now making extra sure that it stays closed!
So much for my to do list, it's now four minutes past Bible time!! My seven year old son is turning this into let's sneak a sandwich time! Gotta go. I had been wanting to write about the dryer thing though, seeing as how mostly everyone I know has a dryer and little kids...this is the part where I remind myself that the Lord is watching over them and I am trusting Him to keep them all safe. Period.
09 January 2008
my personality~
So I did one of those personality tests along with a multiple intelligence test that is supposed to tell you how you learn. They were pretty quick and in my opinion really accurate. I once went to a women's retreat and did this very involved test that was not really any more accurate than this one. I also just think they are kind of fun. I'm always trying to figure out why I am the way I am. You can always click on it to learn more about me in depth ;o) or just to take the test(s) and learn about yourself. It gives all kind of information about the specific types, there are sixteen different types I believe, mine is ISTJ, the Examiner, Protector, Logical, Intrapersonal. My temperament is called a Protector, and my primary function is Introverted Sensing. Apparently 12% of the population is ISTJ, but only 8% of women...wonder what that means for me...? Anyway, they tell you all about your specific type, what career choices/jobs you match well with, and famous people that are like you, real and fictional. Have fun!
08 January 2008
updated reading list and world magazine~
For now I am trying just to keep my blog window open on my computer so I can access it, I still can't figure out what the deal is!
Just wanted to let everyone know I updated my currently reading/waiting to be read list. I have several books that I am super excited about reading....you know, with all my free time and nothing else to do.
Also, we get a news magazine called World Magazine that we absolutley love. In the interest of time, I just cut and pasted their description so you can get a feel for what it is. Right now, you can sign up to get four free issues. It's pricey at $50 a year, but we feel it is well worth it. I am especially excited by it this year as we are now officially in an election year (although one would think we were in an election year for the past year...) Anyway, just a little plug.
WORLD tries to be salt, not sugar.
We like to report good news but we don't make it sticky-sweet. We also report bad news because Christ's grace becomes most meaningful when we're aware of sin. We want to be tough-minded but warmhearted.
We are dependent on God and independent of any political faction or interest group. We don't let advertisers influence news content. We don't print glorified press releases. We like George W. Bush but often criticize his administration. We criticize corruption, even when (sometimes especially when) it erupts among Christians. We avoid sourcery, where unnamed sources spin the news their way.
We look for provocative and evocative news stories that are the result of pavement-pounding rather than thumb-sucking. We don't want anyone to read WORLD out of a sense of duty. We like family feuds over who gets to read a new issue first. We want our readers to enjoy the world God has made, full as it is of nooks and crannies and weirdness.
We stand for factual accuracy and biblical objectivity, trying to see the world as best we can the way the Bible depicts it. Journalistic humility for us means trying to give God's perspective. We distinguish between issues on which the Bible is clear and those on which it isn't. We also distinguish between journalism and propaganda: We're not willing to lie because someone thinks it will help God's cause.
We believe that our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—and forever begins right now. We like sex, within marriage. We're not amoral hedonists, but we're not stoic moralists either. We like the vines and fig trees God gives us. We read novels, go to movies, and listen to classical music but also jazz. We prefer ice cream to cotton candy. We cover movies, yoga, artists and travel; we aren't Christians with rules against anything that's fun because God made fun, too.
We cover all aspects of the news: national, international, and cultural; politics and business; medicine, science, technology, and sports. We have feisty columns and religious reflections. We even have cartoons and a page with funny or strange stories of the week. But what matters the most is this: We believe in a God who tells the truth and wants us to do the same.
If that sounds good to you, click here, follow the instructions, make your choice, and we'll get your subscription started right away. Your issues will be delivered direct to your home or office, plus you'll get FREE access to WORLDMag.com for the duration of your subscription.
Happy Reading!
Just wanted to let everyone know I updated my currently reading/waiting to be read list. I have several books that I am super excited about reading....you know, with all my free time and nothing else to do.
Also, we get a news magazine called World Magazine that we absolutley love. In the interest of time, I just cut and pasted their description so you can get a feel for what it is. Right now, you can sign up to get four free issues. It's pricey at $50 a year, but we feel it is well worth it. I am especially excited by it this year as we are now officially in an election year (although one would think we were in an election year for the past year...) Anyway, just a little plug.
WORLD tries to be salt, not sugar.
We like to report good news but we don't make it sticky-sweet. We also report bad news because Christ's grace becomes most meaningful when we're aware of sin. We want to be tough-minded but warmhearted.
We are dependent on God and independent of any political faction or interest group. We don't let advertisers influence news content. We don't print glorified press releases. We like George W. Bush but often criticize his administration. We criticize corruption, even when (sometimes especially when) it erupts among Christians. We avoid sourcery, where unnamed sources spin the news their way.
We look for provocative and evocative news stories that are the result of pavement-pounding rather than thumb-sucking. We don't want anyone to read WORLD out of a sense of duty. We like family feuds over who gets to read a new issue first. We want our readers to enjoy the world God has made, full as it is of nooks and crannies and weirdness.
We stand for factual accuracy and biblical objectivity, trying to see the world as best we can the way the Bible depicts it. Journalistic humility for us means trying to give God's perspective. We distinguish between issues on which the Bible is clear and those on which it isn't. We also distinguish between journalism and propaganda: We're not willing to lie because someone thinks it will help God's cause.
We believe that our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—and forever begins right now. We like sex, within marriage. We're not amoral hedonists, but we're not stoic moralists either. We like the vines and fig trees God gives us. We read novels, go to movies, and listen to classical music but also jazz. We prefer ice cream to cotton candy. We cover movies, yoga, artists and travel; we aren't Christians with rules against anything that's fun because God made fun, too.
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07 January 2008
2007 reflections~
Oh, I hope I am able to finish this!
My friend Lori was talking the other day on her blog about 7 being considered the number of completion in the Bible and that 8 is considered the number of new beginnings. I was so excited when I read that because my spirit immediately connected with that in a big way. Yes! That is what I feel is going on with me. I feel that with the end of 2007 a season of my life was coming to completion and a new season is beginning. What that looks like exactly I'm not sure, but my spirit said yes! I feel it, I see it, and I am beginning to live it! I have felt that a time of intensity in my mothering and in my life in general is taking more of a concrete form, my ideals and the desires of my heart are becoming more cohesive and that there has been a breaking in my life. I am finally seeing some fruit in what my heart longs for in my life, and in my mothering specifically. No way am I perfect or even close to it, but some breakthrough and breaking off of some of the lingering effects of my past and some freedom has been graciously given to me! For that I am so immensely thankful. You know the verse that talks about the Spirit interceding for us with groans there are no words for? Well, I feel that my spirit along with the Spirit of the Lord in me has been groaning for some breakthrough and victory for literally years and I have finally tasted some. Again, in no way perfect or close to it, but definiately some victory!
2007 brought some sweet things to our family, the highlights being~
**i was hospitalized with pneumonia while I was 33-34 weeks pregnant in March, while not exactly a highlight, it brought a major shift in perspective that I am still pondering and overwhelming grateful...
**the addition of sweet baby Haven and his amazing birth on 30 May. I've yet to post his birth story, (which I want to do in part for my own benefit), but it was amazing and sweet and he is such a delight to us all. We are so thankful the Lord blessed with a fourth son and sixth child, we consider it a privilege and an honor to be entrusted with six precious lives.
**Glen and I celebrated our tenth anniversary on 14 June. My sweet husband planned a weekend at the Embassy Suites for us totally on his own (read: huge deal!) with no expectations (big grin!) as I was only two weeks post-partum. He took care of Haven and allowed me to nap and sleep and went out to eat wherever I wanted. For me, the celebration of our tenth anniversary was a little bit of a "ha! ha!" moment as we married sooo young (I had been 17 for two months) that a lot of people around us I think either were doing the math when we had Anna (which was over a year later just so everyone knows!) or were wondering how long it would last, or both. Anyway, I spent a good part of the summer just reflecting on God's goodness to us in our relationship. I am thankful beyond words. Glen is truly my best friend. We get along fabulously and have lots of fun together. There are not words to describe what a wonderful husband and father he is. Many people say that, but I mean it in on a level that I don't think most people grasp. He truly is exceptional. He is the best husband and father that I know and I am so thankful the Lord brought us together at such a young age. We each have grandparents that have been married for almost 60 and 70 years respectively, and I hope with my whole heart we can walk in that same blessing.
**We entered our fourth year of homeschooling and added in a new Kindergartener! That has brought new and overwhelming challenges, but those are working some good change into my character, our home, and our vision for our family, so while challenging, it is a catalyst, and therefore, a highlight.
**As mentioned earlier, our Thanksgiving and Christmas were a quiet, sweet time of family and calmness that I have strived and longed for in past years, and this year, we finally were able to rest in that. We ended the year celebrating with friends that have walked with Glen since childhood and we spend every New Year's Eve with them. There is actually a whole group of guys that have been friends, some since childhood, the rest since jr high/high school that are all godly, Christian guys that I am very thankful Glen has in his life. They kept each other accountable through high school, and continue to do so today. They are all now husbands as well as fathers, so that has brought an even deeper level to their relationship that I am thankful Glen has in his life. Ethan's birthday is also on New Year's Eve, so we now have a 6 year old!
This past year has been one of immense change in my life. Mostly related to what I was talking about earlier and engrained in the highlights of our year. It was also intensely challenging in a way I would not have wanted to know about beforehand. For most of the year, I felt as if I were treading water. Lots of ideals, good ideas, and intentions, but a lot of hard, frustrating days. It's not necessarily that life has changed, but God is working on my character and teaching me things and giving me new perspective that I am excited about. I still don't know exactly what that will look like, and the weight of the enormity of raising six precious lives in our fallen world has hit me in a whole new way recently, but I know Whom I have believed in, and am persuaded that He is able to keep me from falling, that He promises to direct my paths when I commit my ways to Him and that He is faithful, and that He loves my children even more than I do, and loves me more than I can fathom....so I can trust Him and rest in the promise of His new mercies and grace being given to me each day.
2007....a year of completion of a season in my life
2008...a year of new beginnings
My friend Lori was talking the other day on her blog about 7 being considered the number of completion in the Bible and that 8 is considered the number of new beginnings. I was so excited when I read that because my spirit immediately connected with that in a big way. Yes! That is what I feel is going on with me. I feel that with the end of 2007 a season of my life was coming to completion and a new season is beginning. What that looks like exactly I'm not sure, but my spirit said yes! I feel it, I see it, and I am beginning to live it! I have felt that a time of intensity in my mothering and in my life in general is taking more of a concrete form, my ideals and the desires of my heart are becoming more cohesive and that there has been a breaking in my life. I am finally seeing some fruit in what my heart longs for in my life, and in my mothering specifically. No way am I perfect or even close to it, but some breakthrough and breaking off of some of the lingering effects of my past and some freedom has been graciously given to me! For that I am so immensely thankful. You know the verse that talks about the Spirit interceding for us with groans there are no words for? Well, I feel that my spirit along with the Spirit of the Lord in me has been groaning for some breakthrough and victory for literally years and I have finally tasted some. Again, in no way perfect or close to it, but definiately some victory!
2007 brought some sweet things to our family, the highlights being~
**i was hospitalized with pneumonia while I was 33-34 weeks pregnant in March, while not exactly a highlight, it brought a major shift in perspective that I am still pondering and overwhelming grateful...
**the addition of sweet baby Haven and his amazing birth on 30 May. I've yet to post his birth story, (which I want to do in part for my own benefit), but it was amazing and sweet and he is such a delight to us all. We are so thankful the Lord blessed with a fourth son and sixth child, we consider it a privilege and an honor to be entrusted with six precious lives.
**Glen and I celebrated our tenth anniversary on 14 June. My sweet husband planned a weekend at the Embassy Suites for us totally on his own (read: huge deal!) with no expectations (big grin!) as I was only two weeks post-partum. He took care of Haven and allowed me to nap and sleep and went out to eat wherever I wanted. For me, the celebration of our tenth anniversary was a little bit of a "ha! ha!" moment as we married sooo young (I had been 17 for two months) that a lot of people around us I think either were doing the math when we had Anna (which was over a year later just so everyone knows!) or were wondering how long it would last, or both. Anyway, I spent a good part of the summer just reflecting on God's goodness to us in our relationship. I am thankful beyond words. Glen is truly my best friend. We get along fabulously and have lots of fun together. There are not words to describe what a wonderful husband and father he is. Many people say that, but I mean it in on a level that I don't think most people grasp. He truly is exceptional. He is the best husband and father that I know and I am so thankful the Lord brought us together at such a young age. We each have grandparents that have been married for almost 60 and 70 years respectively, and I hope with my whole heart we can walk in that same blessing.
**We entered our fourth year of homeschooling and added in a new Kindergartener! That has brought new and overwhelming challenges, but those are working some good change into my character, our home, and our vision for our family, so while challenging, it is a catalyst, and therefore, a highlight.
**As mentioned earlier, our Thanksgiving and Christmas were a quiet, sweet time of family and calmness that I have strived and longed for in past years, and this year, we finally were able to rest in that. We ended the year celebrating with friends that have walked with Glen since childhood and we spend every New Year's Eve with them. There is actually a whole group of guys that have been friends, some since childhood, the rest since jr high/high school that are all godly, Christian guys that I am very thankful Glen has in his life. They kept each other accountable through high school, and continue to do so today. They are all now husbands as well as fathers, so that has brought an even deeper level to their relationship that I am thankful Glen has in his life. Ethan's birthday is also on New Year's Eve, so we now have a 6 year old!
This past year has been one of immense change in my life. Mostly related to what I was talking about earlier and engrained in the highlights of our year. It was also intensely challenging in a way I would not have wanted to know about beforehand. For most of the year, I felt as if I were treading water. Lots of ideals, good ideas, and intentions, but a lot of hard, frustrating days. It's not necessarily that life has changed, but God is working on my character and teaching me things and giving me new perspective that I am excited about. I still don't know exactly what that will look like, and the weight of the enormity of raising six precious lives in our fallen world has hit me in a whole new way recently, but I know Whom I have believed in, and am persuaded that He is able to keep me from falling, that He promises to direct my paths when I commit my ways to Him and that He is faithful, and that He loves my children even more than I do, and loves me more than I can fathom....so I can trust Him and rest in the promise of His new mercies and grace being given to me each day.
2007....a year of completion of a season in my life
2008...a year of new beginnings
thanksgiving 101~
One of the things I am passionate about is the return to Biblial womanhood. Women in our generation (and our mothers and for some, our grandmothers) were fed the lie that Biblical womanhood was not our highest and most noble calling, that there was greater honor, value, and even meaning in finding our worth outside the home. (Even in other ministries sometimes...shhh!) This lie has led to more heartbreak and breakdown within the family structure than anything else I believe. I think the huge increase in psychological as well as physical childhood problems, the breakdown of marriage, the absence of true fatherhood and spiritual leadership within the home, increased violence, teen pregnancy, abortion...you name it...can be ultimately traced back to women abandoning their God-given calling to be a wife and mother first. I think one of the enemy's greatest successes was the feminist movement, and want so badly for women to know that they've been led to believe a bunh of lies....but that is for another time.
Anyway, all that to say, my heart is passionate for women and moms to be able to know their value and worth is found best in the role God created them for, and to be able to pour their lives into their homes as their priority one ministry, and rest in the knowledge that it is GOOD! That when they are able to embrace the Biblical role of women and be fulfilled in that, that it is okay! For me, that in itself has been a huge process. Our culture is so steeped in you have to have it all, do it all, or you better at least look like you are having it all and doing it all perfectly, that it was literally a ripping away process for me that has taken a good nine years probably. Not that I've arrived by any means, but only in the last year or so have I been able to stay at home on a daily basis and like it. I spent the early years of my children's life dragging them all over creation because I could not be content in my home. I cried out to the Lord to change me as I knew in my spirit that I was not walking in His best for me and that was affecting my family and my children. Oh how thankful I am that He covers us in His grace and sees the desires of our hearts and sees our intentions and our hearts. That He covered us in His grace...that He covers my children as their mother grows up right along with them :o)
Whew....I should totally change the name of the post! What I started out wanting to say was that one of the things I am intentionally doing with my girls is mentoring them and training them up to, by the grace of God, be able to walk in their high calling as women with joy, success, and knowledge. What that looks like around here right now, is that one of Anna's official jobs during job time is just "my helper." She does laundry with me, as I'm teaching her at the age of 9 how to handle laundry for a large family. Her other jobs are to check her brothers' and sister's jobs and show them what still needs to be done, to clean off the table, choose a picture for the little ones to color during Bible time, copy it and set them out on the table along with the crayons, help take care of Haven if he needs something while I'm busy, and pretty much just be my assistant. She's being mentored/trained in mothering, along with learning to be a wife and homemaker so that can be a blessing to her husband and her children one day. And be able to do it well and enjoy it! She's learning to multi-task :o) Anyway, totally off topic again....
What I'm trying to say is....on Thanksgiving she and Moriah helped Mom in the kitchen all day! It was actually lots of fun. My family all comes here on Thanksgiving and we prepare most of the food. So we spent the day cleaning up and cooking. Two days prior, we had cleaned up, the day before we made 6 pies (chess, chocolate chess, buttermilk, 2 pumpkin, and apple), and Thanksgiving day we cooked the turkey along with mashed potatos (all my children helped with this as they absolutely love to cut potatos!), green beans, sweet potato casserole, sweet tea, cranberry sauce, a veggie tray, fruit salad, and cream cheese dip. The rest of my family brought punch, corn, and rolls, so we had a Thanksgiving feast and a sweet time was had by everyone.
I feel like I'm going to need to follow this up with some explanation and clarification in the near future...hopefully my computer will cooperate. Right now I've got tons of things I want to say while I have the chance...we'll see how long my sweeties will allow naptime to go :o)
random connection~
Well, I still have not gotton my computer fixed, but every now and then I try and log in and for some random reason it finally worked this time (after about 30 redirecting tabs...what is up??) so I guess I should take advantage of the opportunity to write something. I really should just send my computer to Warwick, but I am super attached to my computer, and the idea of my desk just sitting there all day looking, well...naked, I just, I don't know....I'm super attached. It's my link to the outside world. I am a huge reader, constantly having to have something in front of me anytime I sit down, and the idea of no computer even for a day...I just don't know what I would do! So anyway....if I can just remember to send it in with Glen on a day when I'm not going to be home....
01 January 2008
redirecting...~
Once again, yes, I am still here. We've had a nice and peaceful Thanksgiving, December, Christmas, and New Year around here and are looking forward to getting settled into a normal routine again.
This year I intentionally planned to lighten up on school, minimally decorate, and did almost all our gift shopping online. The result? Our best holiday season ever in the Hutchison home :o)
For our family, and me personally, that is huge! The week after Christmas has always been the most stressful time of the year for me, due mostly to my children being the recipients of overly eager family members who love to shower them with enough gifts (all involving small, numerous parts, of course!) to bury them for weeks. I am making light of it, but in truth, it is absolutely ridiculous and brings me closer to tears and dealing with more anger and frustration than any other time of the year. In past years I've tried explaining, letter writing, gift-approving, and all other sorts of tactics, but mostly no one listens to me. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful my children are so loved (I should probably add that they are the only children on my side of the family), but there is a lot more to this than I can really get into adequately, so just take my word for it that this is actually a big issue for us :o)
What was different this year? Mostly, my attitude (I decided to just not get angry), but there have been some changes in my family that caused for a reduction in the amount of stuff, as well as, what I would like to believe, more of an understanding of where my heart is in the whole situation...but whatever the change, I am thankful for a really sweet last month or so!
The reason, actually, that I've not been blogging, is that something is wrong with my computer and it is totally blogger related. It is super frustrating! Glen is home over this long weekend (my favorite part of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's holidays!) so I decided to take a minute and use his computer to let everyone know where we disappeared to :o)
Anyway, I can read blogs, but anything involving signing into blogger (accessing my blog and leaving comments on my friends blogs) is impossible on my computer right now. Our good friend, Warwick, is going to look at it and hopefully get it fixed soon. When I try and sign in, I get one window that pops up saying "internet explorer cannot open the web page," and another window that says "redirecting" and I keep getting new "redirecting" tabs continually until I finally just close the whole window down. Who knows? I've hunted around online a little and tried a few different things, but still it persists....so here I sit...
Hopefully I'll be back soon!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
This year I intentionally planned to lighten up on school, minimally decorate, and did almost all our gift shopping online. The result? Our best holiday season ever in the Hutchison home :o)
For our family, and me personally, that is huge! The week after Christmas has always been the most stressful time of the year for me, due mostly to my children being the recipients of overly eager family members who love to shower them with enough gifts (all involving small, numerous parts, of course!) to bury them for weeks. I am making light of it, but in truth, it is absolutely ridiculous and brings me closer to tears and dealing with more anger and frustration than any other time of the year. In past years I've tried explaining, letter writing, gift-approving, and all other sorts of tactics, but mostly no one listens to me. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful my children are so loved (I should probably add that they are the only children on my side of the family), but there is a lot more to this than I can really get into adequately, so just take my word for it that this is actually a big issue for us :o)
What was different this year? Mostly, my attitude (I decided to just not get angry), but there have been some changes in my family that caused for a reduction in the amount of stuff, as well as, what I would like to believe, more of an understanding of where my heart is in the whole situation...but whatever the change, I am thankful for a really sweet last month or so!
The reason, actually, that I've not been blogging, is that something is wrong with my computer and it is totally blogger related. It is super frustrating! Glen is home over this long weekend (my favorite part of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's holidays!) so I decided to take a minute and use his computer to let everyone know where we disappeared to :o)
Anyway, I can read blogs, but anything involving signing into blogger (accessing my blog and leaving comments on my friends blogs) is impossible on my computer right now. Our good friend, Warwick, is going to look at it and hopefully get it fixed soon. When I try and sign in, I get one window that pops up saying "internet explorer cannot open the web page," and another window that says "redirecting" and I keep getting new "redirecting" tabs continually until I finally just close the whole window down. Who knows? I've hunted around online a little and tried a few different things, but still it persists....so here I sit...
Hopefully I'll be back soon!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
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