Fall Fun

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

                                                                       
                                                                         Raking Leaves

Field Trip to the Apple Orchard



The Zucchinni Fest at my Mom's church was fun!  We dressed up a zucchinni like a baby.  My mom won the biggest zucchinni award (10#, 11oz.) and also tied for first place in the dessert category with her delicious zucchinni brownies.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Using this recipe (though I used some whole wheat flour and some cane sugar instead of all white flour and white sugar) I decided to try making hamburger buns one night for our BLT's.  They turned out so tasty that I will have to start making them in bulk and freezing!

Progress on Prep for Baby List

I've had some people tell me my list looks like their list on steroids, or that it's intimidating or amazing to them that I can get all of this done pre-baby.  But this was just a goal sheet and you'll see by reading over my progress that I have not fulfilled some of my goals or have re-worked them based on real life happenings.  I have had over 10 weeks to accomplish all of it so by taking it in little tiny chunks, anyone could do this and more!  My daily life as a homeschooling mom and taking care of sick children is much more busy than checking off the tasks on this list!

TO DO:


*Throw a "Preggo Party" for all of my pregnant friends to come over one night and work on a craft for their baby-on-the-way.
Update:  Didn't happen due to the chickenpox hitting in September since no one wanted to come to my house for a month.  Also, my preggo friends were so busy and had family trips and things going on that most of them delivered before I was able to schedule something in mid-October.  But, 3 of us due in October did have a wonderful time eating desserts and chatting about all things pregnancy one evening at one of their homes so we still got our Pregnancy Ladies' Night!


*Throw Justus a "semi-truck birthday" party in 2 weeks for his second birthday.


*Throw Jeremiah a "snake birthday" in mid-September, 2 months before his real, 4th birthday.
Update:  Purchased some party favors and have the snake cake idea in mind but decided with all the busy-ness of October that Mama will feel more like having the party in mid-November.  Having a newborn is easier than being preggo for me, something I tend to forget when I make these lists!


*Have at least 30 meals in the freezer. My plan was:

Lasagna-4

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole-2

Chicken Brocolli Rice Casserole-4

Homemade Frozen Pizza Kits-3

Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes-2

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup in the Crockpot-3

Green Chili Burritos-4

Tuna Casserole-3

Stir-fry-2

Plowman's Share-2

Update:  The freezer we had in storage for 5 years apparently no longer works.  So, my grand ideas of filling a deep freeze completely up are not to be.  We are looking to buy a used deep freeze soon, but for now, my fridge freezer is going to have to do, and after squeezing in 18 meals, 7 desserts, some bags of rolls, some smoothie ingredients, my husbands' "essential food" aka ice-cream, there is no more room for frozen meals.  But 18 dinners should get me pretty far since I may receive meals from the church as well and even 2.5 weeks off from cooking will be great!
Here's what's in my freezer based on what I could squeak out of my budget and what I could make with what was on sale:
Chili x2
Tuna Casserole x2
Chicken Enchiladas x1
Potato Soup x1
Wild Rice Soup x3
Lasagna x2
Green Chili Chicken on Brown Rice x2
Bean Burrito Enchiladas x2
Spaghetti Bake x3


*Have 5-10# of cooked hamburger frozen in .75# bags for tacos, pizza, nachos, etc.
So far done:  3# of cooked turkey frozen in small portions for tacos, nachos, casseroles, etc.


*Make up lots of homemade dry mixes (pancake, waffle, pizza dough, cookie, wheat bread, taco seasoning, cream soup mix, etc.)
So far done:  11 whole wheat pancake mixes made up thanks to this incredible recipe I recently discovered!


*Stock the cupboards with crackers, granola bars, nuts, etc.   I wish I could have stocked more, but I only had so much to spend on my last Walmart run before the baby comes so it will have to do.  We are definitely stocked on all-fruit jam, honey, peanut butter, apple butter (I made from apples we picked for free), and baking ingredients.


*Freeze some cookie dough or cookies, muffins, zucchini bread, and butterhorn rolls.


*Buy a few months' supply of toilet paper, Clorox wipes, kleenex, and baby wipes and have plenty of laundry soap made up. Have a month's worth of paper plates ready.


*Buy the kids a little gift to help them feel special with the event of a new baby.  Found some plastic bowie knives for the boys and a ribbon twirler for Ali at the Dollar Tree and stuck them in my hospital bag.  Cheap, but I know the kids will like them a lot and it will be something fun to play with while they adjust to the new sibling.


*Sew Katrielle a minky blanky set. Got the purple minky fleece new at a yard sale (3 yards for $3) and plan to make her a "ducky" blankie just like her brothers have, with an extra, just like they have, for keeping in the closet for when the current one is dirty, lost, etc.
So far:  Should be able to finish those this week.  They only take 30 minutes each (if that) to make!


*Choose a middle name for our daughter.   And it's a secret until she comes!


*Have a homeschooling routine in place and the fall semester planned out for Ali regarding goals, school lessons, field trip plans, homeschool swimming schedule, etc.


*Borrow lots of childrens' movies from friends so we won't be borrowing them the library and having to remember to return them on time in the tiring post-birth days.
So far:  Found a friend with tons of DVDs and already asked her if I could borrow some.  Now all I need to do is go get them some evening.


*Rotate my kids' clothing from summer clothing to fall/winter and unpack the hats/mittens/gloves and store in the storage downstairs for when the snow flies. Store summer clothing in boxes in the garage or shed.


*Make or purchase cute thank-you cards to have on hand in case we get baby presents or meals from folks, etc. Dollar Tree has some really cute and inexpensive stationary!
So far:  Have collected some, but would like to make some cute, hand-made ones if I get the chance.

*Birthday cards ready to mail for friends and relatives with fall birthdays and gifts done, wrapped, and sent out to MN in advance with my in-laws for my nephews', sis-in-law's, and father-in-law's birthdays.


*If 30 week ultrasound reveals that a C-section is still probable, borrow 3 books through inter-library loan on C-section advice and recovery and read prior to my surgery.
Update:  We're now planning on a regular delivery thanks to my placenta coming upward as my belly grew.  I had a complete previa, with only a 10% of it moving, so everyone was amazed that it did, including me!  So, my mentality had to shift quite a bit from C-section mode to regular delivery and all that entails (many nights of sleeplessness, hard contractions, not knowing when I'll deliver, not getting to go early, not knowing exactly when to line up childcare, a super-long labor, etc.) but we are thankful for this turn of events.


*While I still have plenty of time after baby comes for Christmas shopping and Christmas newsletter/baby announcement, I may plan out a list of Christmas gift ideas for family members and start my Christmas newsletter.
So far done:  Have a list in my calendar/planner of gift ideas for the kids and some relatives.  Have the Christmas letter half-written in my head.


*Bug Josiah to make me a stool that Justus can use to climb into his crib by himself in the event that I have a C-sec.
Not applicable anymore.  But I am bugging him to help me get the yard cleaned up and fixed up and raked up before baby since he's finished painting the house.


*Tentatively plan childcare for our older 3 when we are in the hospital for baby's birth. Discuss with my mom whether or not she will take off of work to watch the kids or attend the birth. Discuss with my husband how many days off he will have and what we will do for post-birth help if our moms aren't available and I'm recovering from surgery.    Since it's no longer a C-section, my mom will be watching the birth just as she did with Justus.  Then she will take care of the kids here at our home for the first night when we are with baby in the hospital.  Lining up childcare has been one of the hardest things for me to do!  I found places for the two older kids to go right away but it is always so hard for me to leave my "baby" with someone.  (I miss my buddy Shiloh!)  I also don't want to burden friends of mine who all either work or have lots of kids of their own to care for whom they drive to school and activities, etc.  So, I'm still working out the details for where Justus will go but have a couple trustworthy folks we are hoping to call.

*Read through our Miracle of Life book often with the kids so they will understand better how a baby lives in utero and discuss the changes that will come to our family with a newborn's arrival.     Really hoping Ali doesn't go tell everyone she knows what she's learned in recent days ever since she asked the question, "How will the baby get out?" and got a fairly accurate, but still very vague, explanation from her Mama!


*Have the guest beds all made up and rooms ready just in case we have unexpected company.
Need to get this done as my mom, and possibly my aunt too, will need a bed if they come help with the kids while we are in the hospital.


*Start the pages for Katrielle's scrapbook and finish Justus' last two pages on his baby book.
So far:  Working on organizing digital photo files so I can order the pics for Justus' album and finish it.  I'm about 6 months behind on organizing my photos, which for someone who takes pics constantly, like me, means thousands of photos to sort!

*Set up our second monitor so I can speak to the kids downstairs when I am upstairs as well as hearing them downstairs. (Can you tell I'm trying to avoid the stairs more?)  Did it, but found out it doesn't work as well as I'd hoped so I tend to just run up and down the stairs to get the kids.  But since previa is no longer an issue, the exercise is good for me and might produce contractions! =)

*Put kid bowls and cups in a lower cabinet and train Ali and Jer to be able to set the table for every meal and snacks too.

A few weeks before Katrielle comes:

*Wash the carseat carrier and swing out and get carseat loaded into the back of the van.

*Pack diaper bag and hospital bag.

*Wash bassinet linens and blankets one more time.

*One last decluttering of the toys downstairs and kids' clothing so we have less clutter to manage when baby comes.

*Buy lots of batteries for the camera.

Already Done as of Making this List:

*Diaper stash for the first few months Thanks to my friend Tracy who gave me lots of diapers her daughter outgrew too quickly and a great Amazon sale on diapers.

*Baby clothes newborn-5T are sorted, and all the 0-6 month stuff is ready and washed and folded!  Can we say SPOILED!  We have gotten soooo many hand-me-downs that are like-new and brand new and I had lots of cute dresses saved from Ali so she will be one well-dressed baby!

*Bassinet, changing table, and clothes set up in our bedroom

*Asked every friend I know who had a C-section to give me tips and share their experiences

*Taught Ali how to get Justus out of his crib in the mornings and bring him up to breakfast.  Update:  He climbs out of his crib himself so he and Jer come up when they wake up, usually while we're having breakfast.

*Kids can get themselves drinks of water, thanks to a fancy fridge with water/ice option

*Organized all Christmas decorations and things in the garage so it will be a snap to decorate for the holidays, even with a new baby.
 
 
One thing I tend to forget is that life will go on after a baby, and will even be MUCH BETTER when I no longer feel the pain of pubic bone displacia, my umbilical hernias, my night-time nausea, extreme exhaustion, etc.  I appreciated what Julie wrote to me in the comments after I first posted this goal list:
 
"Just remember that 4th kid doesn't mean that the world (or your part in it) stops...it really isn't that much harder than three!"
 
Spoken by a mom who works some night shifts as a nurse, homeschools, runs triatholons, and just had her fourth baby in January!
 
 



Little Table

This little round table was $10 at a yard sale.  In the past, we've lived in homes that were so tiny I couldn't possibly have squeezed in an extra like this.  It is perfect in the corner of our dining room where I can display candles, seasonal decorations (like a Nativity set or Jesse Tree) or plants and herbs.  A week ago, it was the perfect place to put my quadruple batch of whole wheat bread dough in a warm, sunny place to rise.

Chicken Pox Tips

Last week, exactly two weeks from the time Jeremiah got the pox, Alathia and Justus finally broke out with them.  Thankfully a couple of nurses had told us the week before that there would be a 14 day incubation period so in the week we were waiting for the pox to come, we were able to attend Homeschool Swimming every morning and do some playdates without being contagious to other children.  Then we isolated our children again and waited a few days for them to break out and then had another week of isolation as they got over them.

Instead of buying oatmeal bath solutions, just take 2 C. of oatmeal, mix with a couple of cups of water and microwave for 2 minutes.  Then spoon the oatmeal into an old nylon sock or section of pantyhose and throw in the bathwater.  This amount will make 3 or 4 and I kept them in a ziploc in the fridge until we needed them.  I let my kids play with the oatmeal ball because the more they squeezed it in the tub, the more soothing oatmeal mush came out of it into the water!  We also did a lot of baking soda baths too.  I would dump half of a box of Arm and Hammer into the tub of warm water.  A month ago a guy who sells Baking Soda and Laundry Detergent gave my dad a case of the stuff for free and Josiah got to bring home a bunch of those freebies from work so we have tons of baking soda on hand.

Justus got the worst case, and was pretty uncomfortable and needy for a few days, poor guy!  Ali was the itchiest of the three but I found that allowing her to play lots of computer games and to skip school and watch a few movies a day was the way to keep her distracted from the itch.  I used Children's Tylenol for the fevers and Children's Benadryl to help control the worst of the itch so they could sleep.  Justus got 4 baths a day for his worst couple of days.  It wasn't fun to see my little people miserable, but in retrospect, it went by in the blink of an eye and they were feeling great and energetic again in just a few days. 

Other survival tips:

Have your hubby bring home Pizza Hut on your worst day--a blessing for the tired Mama and a blessing for the kids who rarely, if ever, get to eat out and love pizza!

Popsicles, ice cream bars, ice-cream, and icy drinks were a hit with my kiddoes

I bought some snacks we don't usually have on hand, like Jell-O cups, pudding cups, juice boxes and fruit snacks.

Fruits and applesauce were good snacks throughout the day too.


I tried tea tree oil and Calamine Lotion on the spots, and though lots of people say tea tree oil is amazing, it didn't seem to work for us.  Calamine really soothed the itch for them so we applied it a few times a day after baths.  My little girl would writhe and complain that the lotion was too cold so I would heat a little water in a small glass bowl in the microwave, then dump the water out and pour a little Calamine in.  The hot bowl would warm the Calamine and I'd apply their pink "paint" with a cotton ball.


My mom was a sweetheart and brought little things by almost every day for the kids.  Balloons one day, bubbles the next, and supper for us one night.  It was very thoughtful and helpful and the kids enjoyed being spoiled, to the point that whenever she pops by the house now they say, "What did you bring us?"

Dressing Up

 Because we had this going on almost daily....we have been trying to find and collect boy dress-ups this summer for our little guys.

 After we collected some cowboy/prince/dragon/dinosaur/spiderman costumes, then we had this going on!

And one day the boy and girl dress-ups collided into this!



Great Yard Sale Find

In late July, I happened to find a "yard sale" in a former health food/novelty shop that was going out of business.  Not only did I get some great Wyoming posters for my guest room and some Wyoming t-shirts for $1 each but they had cases of Wyoming-made chokecherry jelly marked down from $5 a jar to 24 for $20.  Needless to say, I bought a case thinking they would make nice Christmas gifts for neighbors and friends.

But these didn't make it to Christmas because I decided they would make excellent "thank you" gifts for all the families that helped us move and clean our new home.  I had planned to do cookie plates or baked good thank-yous for our volunteers, but these were much easier for a tired, pregnant mama and everyone loved them!

Favorites

We have these a few times a week with supper:

Green spinach smoothies made with homemade yogurt and fruit.

Mmmmm!

On a less healthy note, my tastebuds always start longing for a caramel apple when the air turns cooler and the leaves start changing colors!

"Mom, Where Are My Shoes???"

With 3 small children in a large house, shoes can disappear quickly.

We have one child, particularly, who can NEVER find his shoes.

I was so excited when someone gave us this pretty wooden bench, which fits in our entryway and found that it solves our shoe problems nicely.

The kids are told to keep all their shoes in this one spot.  No more stuffing them under beds, in bedroom closets, or random places throughout the living room.  If I see shoes discarded by the door or laying about in the schoolroom they immediately have to carry them down to the shoe bench.  This is the "central shoe spot" and when it's time to go somewhere, we all head down to the entryway and they grab a pair before heading out the door.

We have a lot of extra shoes thanks to good yard sale finds, hand-me-downs from everyone we know at church and from one sibling to the other.  Here, in the guest room closet where I store larger-sized clothing for the kids, I keep the Shoes-To-Grow-Into.  When a child's shoes begin to feel to too tight, we go "shopping" in the closet for a new pair or two. 

Laundry Room Magic

Our laundry room still wouldn't be called a pretty place, but if you had seen it two months ago you would say it is looking amazing these days!  I think we got at least 2 dump loads of filth and garbage out of this room alone.  And the window that was sooooo caked with dirt and cobwebs that you couldn't even see outside is now sparkling clean and I can keep an eye on the kids playing in the yard while I'm folding laundry.

This is the right side of the laundry room. 

Yay for having a deep freeze again for my freezer cooking endeavors!

My drying rack gets used for delicate items and this is also where I hang my ziploc bags with clothespins for drying.  Potatoes go in the tater box and recyclables in the garbage bin. 

After reading this amazing book and being inspired by the super-organized Duggar family's idea of a family closet, I got to thinking that I should try to make a "family closet" in our laundry room. I also enjoyed this vlog from Stephanie on her family closet.

There was a shelf already in this room that wasn't being used, which was a perfect place to start.
 

I got a bunch of washtubs from the Dollar Tree to hold the kids' clothes.  As they grow, their clothing will be too big to fit in these small tubs, but hopefully by then they will also learn to fold and put away their own clothing, eliminating the need for all of their clothes to be in the family closet.

Since Josiah and I have a very nice master bedroom closet upstairs, our "family closet" is just for the 3 little kids downstairs, all of whom have had trouble with scattering clean clothing about their rooms, and have had a hard time keeping their closets and clothing tubs orderly. I was also letting the clean laundry pile up too high on the folding table because of that extra effort required to get the clothing to the appropriate bedroom.  I don't mind washing or folding laundry, it's putting it away that I hate!

I have one basket for Katrielle's stuff, which is just a holding pen for it until it is taken upstairs to her dresser in our bedroom.  Each child has a sock bin and an undie bin, there is a swimsuit box where all the kids' swimsuits are kept, and the boys each have a shirts and pants box.  Ali's main clothing boxes are under the folding table and contain skirts, shorts, and pants in one, and shirts in another.  Sweatshirts, dresses, church clothing, etc. hang in their closets in their bedrooms.

Now that all of the kids' regular clothing is in one spot, it is soooo much easier for me to keep on top of the laundry and keep it put away where it belongs.  And it is UNBELIEVABLE how much cleaner their bedrooms are as a result!  It saves me so much time and energy not having to run piles to different rooms and not having to rewash clean clothes that were thrown in the hamper by kids who just assumed they were dirty because they were on the floor.  Now Jer doesn't have to ask if he has any clean underwear (because Mama hasn't gotten around to putting it away in his room) and we don't have to dig through piles and baskets to find clean socks.  Getting the boys dressed each morning is a snap as everything is in one place and Daddy doesn't have to be confused over which socks belong to which boy (since the tubs are now labeled with names).  The kids' laundry is quickly sorted as it goes straight from the dryer, to the table, to the bins.  Pajamas still go in the kids' rooms; Ali has a hanging closet organizer that holds hers and each of the boys have a shallow plastic tub under their beds filled with pajamas (which...like undies...I don't fold =).

The left side of the laundry room.  A shelf near the door holds my iron, dustbuster, laundry soap, Oxiclean, a Stray Socks box, and cleaning rags.  God provided this wonderful washer and dryer set for $200  for us this summer when I happened to mention in front of someone at a yard sale that we were looking for a set.   They work great!

In the future I hope to have Josiah install a hanging bar above the washer and dryer that can be used for hanging dresses and blouses immediately after they are pulled from the dryer.  We will probably also do a lot more cleaning and some painting and freshening up down here, but at least for now, it's a very functional room for our family!

Question from a Reader

I'm not very good about getting back to those of you readers who ask questions!  If you ask 2 or 3 times you are very likely to get an answer, so just be persistant!


One question, asked by Carrie, was how I implement the Melissa and Doug chart featured in this post, for more than one child.


The Responsibility Chart is more of a family-as-a-whole chart at our house so if everyone has brushed their teeth, or all of the kids have been good about clearing their plate, cleaning up toys, etc. they get a magnet put on.  If only one child is doing something, then the kids who need to work on it will be admonished to do better tomorrow and I may put a magnet on just for the kid who did complete the chore.  Often they do chores together anyhow, like cleaning up the living room, all brushing teeth together before bed, etc..  Each day when we do our chore chart time we will review the things we need to work on for the week and I'll ask each of them how they are doing in that area.  For individual rewards, I have a little paper chart hanging on the wall with their name on it above the homeschooling table that contains 25 blank boxes.  Each time they say a memory verse or Ali reads a Beginning Reader book, or they answer me with a "Right away, Yes Ma'm!", do an extra chore, have an extra-cheerful attitude about schoolwork, exhibit a character quality we are working on, etc. I put an X in a box on their chart.  After 25 X's they get to choose a prize from my prize box.  My prize box is a plastic tub full of exciting little plastic toys, something I found in our shed this summer that was left over from my missionary work at Camp Good News as a teenager.



Each family has to find their own groove for chore charts, whether they will be by the individual or by the group.  For our family of very small children, the group method works for now.  If they are making progress on their chart and most of the boxes get filled in with a magnet during the week then they get their allowance, which at this point is 2 cents per week for Justus (just so he can feel big and have some offering like the other kids), 30 cents for Jer, and 50 cents for Ali.  If they completely disregard the chore chart or have a terrible week about doing chores then allowance will not be given out.  At this point in time, I see myself as the main facilitator of the chore chart.  My kids are so little that I am primarily responsible for enforcing the cleaning up of rooms, the morning routines, the reminders to clear their plates off the table after dinner, the brushing of teeth, and so on.  At some point we may move to a system where they take charge of their own list of things to do each day but for now, the responsibility chart is a good reminder for me each day of what I need to lead and train the children in doing.

Seeing Spots!

On Tuesday, I woke up to a big surprise.  Jer was covered in little red spots!  So last week was one of isolation for our family as we cancelled playdates and stayed home from the park helping Jer get through chicken pox.  So far, the other two have not gotten it although I check them each morning hoping to see spots.  The sooner they catch it, the sooner they can get over it and we can get back to socialization. I don't know where Jer caught it since no one we know has chicken pox, but I am thankful it has hit our home when my kids are very young.  After it's all done with I will have 3 children who are fully immune to the pox for life, without needing to get them booster shots or wonder if their immunity will wear off in adulthood.  For those whom are wondering, we do NOT vaccinate against chicken pox and prefer for our children to gain immunity through having the actual illness. 

I have been amazed at how easy it has been for Jer to deal with.  Calamine lotion and a couple of baths a day in oatmeal water has soothed the itch and I haven't had to tell him not to scratch.  After four days, his spots are mostly gone and no longer itchy.  He has not been extra whiny (which if you know Jer, is a miracle) and has done his schoolwork as normal and has had normal amounts of energy and appetite.  I remember having chicken pox at age 10 and I was utterly miserable and laid on the couch for over a week with chicken pox in my mouth, on my eyelids, and in my hair.  I had at least 5x as many spots as Jeremiah.  It is definitely harder for older kids or adults than for tiny kids!

So, in the meantime....we play a waiting game....hoping Ali catches it soon so she won't have to miss all 2 weeks of homeschool swimming which starts tomorrow, but at the same time being thankful that God allowed this illness to hit our family BEFORE Katrielle's arrival.

Anticipation

7 Months

One day the kids came upstairs looking like this

Ali is on a "no toys" kick right now because she's sick of cleaning her room, so I took her bin to use for her little sister's things in my room. 

A dresser and changing table set up in my bedroom.

One friend gave me this beautiful crib that she no longer wanted and another one gave me this pretty pink crib set.  For now it is in the guest room but it will go upstairs when Katrielle outgrows her bassinet.

A Character Qualities Pageant

Photo credit

A friend and I were talking at a swimming playdate this summer and she mentioned that her husband calls me "Miss Peace Like a River."  I almost laughed out loud.  Boy, if my husband and kids heard that, they would surely set him straight about how impatient and un-peaceful I can be on many a day (esp. when I'm in the family way!)  I appreciated the compliment, but I knew it would be more appropriate to call me "Miss Blows Like a Steam Engine Over The Slightest Thing."   As I thought about that comment I came to the conclusion that I would like to be "Miss Peace Like a River"  and to be patient with my family all of the time, even when outsiders aren't watching.  I have a long way to go, but it is one of my goals to strive for.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we as a society prized character above physical beauty?  Or even if those of us who are Christians spent as much time trying to be kind, gentle, loving, merciful, generous, patient, forgiving as we spend trying to look nice on the outside or trying to earn the approval and admiration of others?

The world is so backwards in its' thinking about what is important in life and oftentimes, those of us in the Church follow its' lead.  The women with the stick figures, big smiles, flashy jewels, and perfect make-up get the crowns and awards, when inside, they may be spiritually bankrupt and empty and treat others contemptuously.  Worldly men lust after those outwardly beautiful women, causing many women to believe their worth truly is in their looks and that they won't be loved by men or have friends unless they meet a certain standard physically.  Read 1 women's magazine off the racks and you'll be bombarded with 100 ads for new beauty products and articles that seek to convince you that you need to have this or that body or wardrobe makeover to look good. 

But, in God's eyes, the women who are the pageant winners are the women who possess inner beauty, "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (1 Peter 3:4).  Notice that this kind of beauty is unfading, unlike our physical bodies which will all grow older, more tired, more weak, more saggy and baggy and gray.

This weekend I hung out with some beautiful, unfadingly gorgeous women of character at a ladies' retreat.

Women like:

Mrs. Prays Like a Warrior

Miss Unshakeable Faith

Miss Believes in a Sovereign God

Mrs. Humble and Broken but Healed by Christ

Miss Transformed

Miss Sweet and Gentle Spirit

Mrs. Gracious and Giving

Mrs. Faithful For Many Years

Mrs. Uses Her Gifts for The Glory of God

Miss Joy-full

Mrs. Self-Controlled in the Face of Temptation

These inwardly beautiful people are so encouraging to be around!

They inspire me to be more like Christ.

God prizes character.  He's all about the heart.

Therefore, I want my home to be a place where character is valued above outward appearance. 

"Unofficial Bartering" also known as "Friendship"

A friend admired Ali's haircut I had given her. 

She asked me to trim her daughter's hair.

I did so with fear and trembling, because I really don't know what I'm doing

and the fact that Ali's hair turned out cute was somewhat of a fluke.

After the haircut she gave me a big bag of garden produce

Including these bright cherry tomatoes.

Sharing our gifts with one another...

....the beauty of friendship.

Hands-On Activities

Playing with Moon Sand for one of their hands-on activities.  I bought it from a fellow homeschooling mom's yard sale for $3 and we all love it!  I confess, I love making stuff with them in moon sand, it's got such a cool texture!

Eating "Alphabet Pretzels" that they helped me make on the first day of school.

Each day, I try to provide one hands-on experience for the kids.  Here is a list I made for myself of things we can choose to do:

Puzzles

Games

Cornmeal Tub

Rice Tub

Beans Tub

Moon Sand

Cooking Project

Cuisenaire Rods

Wooden Textiles

Painting

Duplos or Legos

Marbleworks

Beading

Playing with water

Stamps

Cubes

Blocks

Tour of Our Schoolroom

I've shown this before under my new house pics, but thought I'd show it again so you could get a glimpse of my "schoolroom" for homeschooling.  This huge closet in the large living room is one of my favorite things about our new house.

One side of the closet....

......the other side.

Justus standing in front of the school closet.

Our very large school table.  Considering that half of this table was all that would fit in our kitchen in our former home and was used for an eating/sewing/crafts/snacks/school table, it is a wonderful luxury to have a table all for school!

Schedules and Charts

Please don't be intimidated when you see all of these schedules and charts.  I'm not a "live by or die by the schedule" kind of person.  I'm flexible, my house is still not perfectly clean when visitors drop by unexpectedly, and I wasn't always this "detail-oriented."  The more children I have and the more we tackle (like homeschooling and extra-curriculars and moving) the more important having a routine and schedule becomes.

Our My Father's World curriculum and K-Math book from Amazon have not arrived yet as I had hoped.... so for now, this is my school plan.  When it arrives and I look it over and become familiar with it, I will need to tweak this a bit to incorporate MFW.  But for now, this is the plan.  I used two blank-calendar printables off the internet and taped them together above the homeschooling table.  Devo is short for devotions, which is what I call the Bible lesson.  Grat. Journals are the Gratitude Journals we started doing last year, where the kids draw a picture each day in their notebook of something they are thankful for.

My husband was a little shocked by how much I wanted to accomplish in a day until I explained to him that many of the things on here take 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes.  In fact, everything on the schedule can be accomplished in 2 hours on a good day, 3 hours on a day with crafts or a lengthier "hands on" time.  That leaves plenty of time in our day for playing outside, going to the park, visiting friends, doing household chores, etc.

My mom saw this in the Oriental Trading catalog for $13 and asked me if I wanted to buy it.  It's great for teaching the kids the concepts of months, days of the week, etc. 

For a while, I tried index cards for household management, and after that daily to-do lists and a home management binder.  Then, for the last year it was a bit of just doing what had to be done and cleaning where it was needed.  However, after moving to a huge house, I realized it would be good to have a chart just to glance at daily or at least a few times a week to make sure that things were getting done.  We used to have 1 laundry hamper which we all shared, now there are 5, with another to come when baby joins us.  So, it's nice to have this chart, reminding me what needs to get done to manage the chores at home.  A lot of it is just habit, like making the bed each day or bathing the kids on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night but some of it is new for me, like having a guest room bathroom to clean and an entryway to vacuum, etc.

This Melissa and Doug Responsibility Chart is awesome for teaching kids to do their chores.  We've had it for a couple of years now and it's been a wonderful tool.  From 7:00-8:30 a.m. we work on eating breakfast, getting dressed, getting morning chores done, and then at 8:30 a.m. we start school.  When we do our chart, we are usually looking back a day.  So, on Monday we will talk about whether or not they whined on Sunday, made their bed yesterday, or used their manners all day, etc.

My weekly menu plan is just a magnetic pad I got at Walgreens for $1 last year.  Once a week, as I'm planning my weekly shopping trip, I'll write down 7 dinner ideas and then shop for ingredients for those meals as needed.  Lunches are usually leftovers or sandwiches so I don't even plan those out unless I have a special event and breakfasts are usually cereal, since my husband prefers it over a hot breakfast.  I try to always keep pretzels, popcorn, crackers, or fruit and cheese on hand for the kids' twice daily snacks and I don't usually plan out side dishes as we usually have frozen veggies, bread, salad, or fruit as dinner sides.  Each day I choose which of the 7 meals fits my schedule and mood/cravings and make it.  Menu planning at it's simplest!  As you can see, this week I had tuna sandwiches planned for one meal and then realized we had frozen hamburger patties in the freezer and decided those sounded better!

This planner, $1 in the Target dollar section, is where I manage all other areas of life.  Again, I'm not someone who lives for my schedule and checks it constantly.  Many a day will go by without me needing to look at it.  But for family and friends' birthday reminders, lists of people I need to write thank-you notes to, financial notes, dental and prenatal appointments, reminders of which pregnancy week I am on, extra-curriculars like homeschool swimming, AWANAS, or just super busy days where I have 10 things to do and need a place to write them down, this is the spot!  Some people use a wall calendar for this kind of stuff, but I prefer to have mine portable so I can take it on planning trips to the library or wherever I happen to be doing some month-at-a-glance planning in the house.