Things that Work: Giving Thanks

With five children in the house, I'm always excited when I find things that work. (Actually, I believe it's divine inspiration- purely His mercy!) So, here are some things that are working for us in this season:

Hair Days. L (6) find it difficult to be cheerful or pleasant when she is having her hair done. Giving each day a specific hair style has helped immensely. It sounds silly, but so much of the complaining is alleviated when she knows what to expect and she gets it. And because it really does sound funny, we also smile a lot more, too. MONday, BUN day; TUESday, CHOOSE day; WEDnesday, let's be FRIENDS day (which just means we take turns choosing), etc.

Memory Bin. One bin with our memory material easily accessible. It has Veritas timeline, Latin, states and capitals, math flashcards, Bible and catechism, phonograms, and poetry.

Weekly worksheets. Each of the big boys has a schedule with blanks for them to fill in before the week starts. I create L's each week but it was taking me far too long to change the boys sheets from one week to the next, replacing the 10s with 11s for example. This involves them in the process, saves me time, and teaches them how to apportion their time.

Midday bike ride/walk. Just what we need after an intense morning of school and right at the warmest, sunniest part of the day. Everyone is happier after our outside time.

Simple Sundays. The Lawyer has asked that there not be dishes to wash on Sundays and I'm taking on the challenge to prepare ahead of time and keep meals very, very simple on Sunday. This week we had fresh bread and scalloped potatoes and salad.

Giving thanks. The daily act of giving thanks really can change so much: my attitude, my demeanor, my hope, my relationships. . .  And so, I continue:

817. Soup with friends.
818. Laughing that the soups looked identical- though one was potato and one was lentil!
819. Getting lost, running late... and still being blessed.
820. Fascinating reading on pteradons... we praise the Creator for these mysteries!
821. Phone calls with old friends. Laughing at the photos of their sweet, funny children.
822. Lingering in bed on a cold, rainy morning.
823. Forgetting the sweetener and the leavening in the pancake- and they ate it anyway. (wow.)
824. New baby pictures! Sweet, amazing Mae.
825. 18 month old who calls "MAma!" and seems to only want to be held today.

Perfect Fall Days

Crayon- Removing Solution

Yay! Yay!

I just put our "ruined" load of laundry into the dryer. . . without the red crayon stains that were on them a few hours ago.

I looked on ehow for ideas to remove crayon. Even though I could barely stand to think of throwing away a load of laundry (rags, anyone?), I wasn't really willing to take wax paper and a hot iron to every. little. spot. on an entire load.

There was one ehow solution that appealed to me. I tweaked it a bit simply because I didn't want to use so very much of the ingredients. Here is what worked for me:

Fill washing machine with hot water. Add 1 cup white vinegar, 1 cup oxyclean, and 1/2 cup laundry detergent. Then add clothes with crayon stains. Let soak for 1 hour then wash as normal. Voila! I only saw two t-shirts with faint orange stains; everything else was fine!

Thai Pumpkin Soup

This week we tried a recipe that my lovely sister sent to me. We've been getting a fair amount of winter squash through our csa, Dominion Harvest. Earlier in the week I made butternut squash soup that I thought would go over well... but not so much. Sadly for the family, I had also planned this Thai Pumpkin Soup for a few nights later. The Lawyer loves soup, so I knew he wouldn't mind. I was dubious. Turns out he and I both really liked this. We had one child who loved this, two that ate it willingly, and two who ate a lot of bread with theirs. I'm betting that if we hadn't had the butternut soup a few nights earlier this would have been better received (note to self). This was, however, quite easy and delicious and worth posting (so I can find and make it again!). I increased the recipe to feed our family and used what I had on hand.


Thai Pumpkin Soup (revised Vitamix recipe)
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 T tomato paste
3 cups canned pumpkin (1 large can)
2 T fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, chopped (or pressed)
4 c. chicken or vegetable broth
2 T chopped green chilies
3/4 c. coconut cream (sister used half and half she had; I used some cream)
1 c. coconut milk (or unsweetened almond milk)
4 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

Saute onions in olive oil until soft.  Add paste, pumpkin, ginger, garlic, and broth, and combine until heated through.  Put mixture in Vitamix; add chilies, cream, milk, lemon juice.  Select variable 1, than quickly increase speed to 10, then high.  Blend for 25 sec.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Field of Endeavor

On my nightstand is the book Better Than Good by Zig Ziglar. One of his statements that I've been mulling over is: "The only way to move up from a place of mere survival to stability and from stability to success, and from success to significance, is to engage in a God-inspired field of endeavor that will enable you to bring significant benefit to others."

I am incredibly blessed to be a wife and mother, homemaker and educator, and health advocate. Feels like a lot of hats to wear- and yet how rich this makes me! I wish I always felt rich in these ways. There were times this weak when I felt poor and as if I was merely surviving. (When my favorite colander was broken and then another cow glass and then a precious fruit bowl and then a load of laundry ruined by a red crayon and M's shoes show a hole and T ripped his church pants and more bills arrive. . . )

And still I am inspired! This field of endeavor, this home and these lives are my opportunity to bring significant benefits to others. I see beautiful things in my children as their character develops. There is great joy for me in helping other families with their wellness. It's energizing to watch my children learn. I'm excited about our marriage. We aren't just surviving.

This week we aren't just "hanging in there;" we are loving these life moments:
803) Our first picnic lunch outside on the back porch.
804) Book inspiration
805) Family reading and talking over Scripture at the table
806) Sweet, sweet time with my college room mate
807) M singing to himself
808) L's first tooth (knocked out by a bike crash!)
809) Romanesco Broccoli- so cool!
810) Yellow mums floating in a plastic dish
811) Fuji apples from the orchard
812) Finally- the groceries lasted the month (we're nearly there!)
813) New connections; opportunities to share and grow
814) Personal challenges and growth. How exciting to know I will not be the same person a year from now!
815) Reading all about bats while we sit outside on the lawn (me moving into the meager patches of sunlight as the shadows shift)
816) Not just surviving. . . ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’(Acts 17:28)

Thoughts for Sunday

Currently I am reading the Poems of George Herbert at the recommendation of the woman who sat beside me on the flight from Nashville to Atlanta. It is absolutely wonderful to be reading poetry again and these old poems are like precious gems. Here is one:

Paradise
I blesse thee, Lord because I GROW
Among thy trees, which in a ROW
To thee both fruit and order OW.

What open force, or hidden CHARM
Can blast my fruit, or bring me HARM
While the inclosure is thine ARM?

Inclose me still for fear I START.
Be to me rather sharp and TART,
Then let me want thy hand & ART.

When thou dost greater judgements SPARE,
And with thy knife but prune and PARE,
Ev'n fruitfull trees more fruitfull ARE.

Such sharpnes shows the sweetest FREND;
Such cuttings rather heal then REND;
And such beginnings touch their END.

Off the Camera

Kids at Frontier Museum Cornfield/Pumpkin patch

A bag of amaranth on the floor.

M and the Ewe at Frontier Museum. T with grass.

With Sweet Friends in Nashville, TN last weekend!

O shows his strength and skill splitting logs with the betel (sp?).

Birdhouse project.

O, R, L, T helped load and fire the cannon at Henricus.

A Husband and King

Here is an excerpt from last month's cover story in the Washington Post Magazine. It was written by Ellen McCarthy and called "Marriage: What Every Couple Should Know." I read the article on the website for The Counsel for Biblican Manhood and Womanhood :

The writer asks, "What if the truth was that you didn't marry the wrong person? What if you just didn't know how to be married?"

"The article then goes on to share the results of a decade long study that showed that [A]ll couples-those who are happily married into their rocking chair years and those who divorce before they hit their fifth anniversary-disagree more or less the same amount. [The study] found that [all couples] argue about the same subjects-money, kids, time, and sex chief among them-and that for the average couple, 69 percent of those disagreements will be irreconcilable. A morning bird and a night owl won't ever fully eliminate their differences; nor will a spendthrift and a penny pincher. What distinguished satisfied couples from the miserable ones, [they] found, was how creatively and constructively they managed those differences.... If every couple has about the same number of disagreements, people who leave marriage because of irreconcilable differences are likely to find themselves arguing just as much in their next marriage.... What [these researchers] were finding undermined the basic principle driving romantic relationships in America: "That it's about finding the right person. That if you find your soulmate, everything will be fine.... [T]hat's the big myth."

This is why arranged marriages can be happy marriages (good news for our kids!). This is why there is hope in the most hopeless looking situations- because Christ can transform hearts and lives and marriages to reveal the glory of His gospel. I must confess, I also found it reassuring to know that the kinds of differences The Lawyer and I have are common differences.

And, since it is Monday (again? already?!), these thoughts lead right into thanksgiving:
791) Twelve years under our belts.
792) He brings me chocolate. I make him pie and dinner every night (dinner every night but not pie!).
793) He does the dishes nearly every night. And I remember when he NEVER did dishes.
794) I see him as king of this humble domain.
795) He sits with his Apple on his lap; I sit with my Apple on mine.
796) We walk through the woods at night in the deep darkness and the children laugh and play (so great is their trust in his strength and protection.)
797) He encourages me to face challenges and do right things and to rest.
798) We had another church "adventure" on Sunday. So thankful to hear the Gospel and to sing hymns of praise!
799) He leads a little family circle of prayer at night.
800) He wiggles teeth and punches boys (it's okay- really!) and tickles them all until they scream.
801) He comes back to bed in the early morning and holds his arm out to me and I can rest again.
802) For the good plan of the Father that marriage should be a mystery and yet reflect Christ and the Church.

Living the Dream (Board)

I have a dream board sitting in front of me on the desk. Sometime in August I put together this cork board square covered with images and words that inspire me and express my hopes and dreams. There is a couple walking under towering trees, a family biking under a wide blue sky, three kayaks on a lake, a boy with a magnifying glass, and a barn at dusk with lights glowing softly from within. It tells me "I can do this: make water my friend" and "Kids trump career and ministry" and "Enjoying Everyday Life" and "Putting First Things First."

And I've been thinking about this.

The Lawyer and I have felt a bit disillusioned here, renting and wondering where we will be a year from now or five years from now. Try as we may, it feels next to impossible to make a dent in our debt and still feed our family. It doesn't seem that we're moving "forward" or headed toward the goals and dreams we've talked about. . . and put on the dream board. And the children are growing up so quickly and the years are passing by.

I think about this.

We're in an amazing place. Hard, yes. Still, I have the sense that this is a particularly special year of our lives. Perhaps because it is a clearly defined brief time (1 year rental) it reminds me of another short season in our lives when, as newlyweds, we lived in a boathouse for a year. It was tough! We were learning how to be ONE and it was challenging. It was also such a sweet time and no other season has been quite like it. Something about this season feels like that to me.

Difficult as our situation seems, there is something very good about it. I see the Lord's provision here- not just provision for our daily bread (which He has supplied), but provision for our hearts and a revelation that He knows our dreams and holds us still.

One of my dreams is to live on or near water. During our first year of marriage (when we literally lived on the water!), I was comforted by the rhythm of the lake. We fed the fish, dangled toes in the water, went out on the pontoon boat, learned to water ski, took the canoe out in the early morning, and watched the sunlight and the moonlight reflect off the water. We always heard the water. We could see the weather coming by observing the surface of the lake. I grew to love it. There is water on my dream board.

We are currently living in a community that is built around a reservoir. It is a spectacularly beautiful, large lake that is only a short walk from our house. There are walking paths along the lake as well as public docks and scenic overlooks. I am living my dream of living near water.

In Lynchburg it was difficult to take family bike rides- not only was it dangerous for us to take everyone on the steep hills near our home, but we couldn't take them to the trails because we didn't have means to transport six bikes. Yet taking family bike rides is a dream of mine. The Lawyer loves to ride. I love to be outside with everyone. Here, there are miles of trails beginning right at the end of our cul-de-sac. The kids and I are out on bikes nearly every other day and The Lawyer joins us on weekends. It makes me so happy to see all of us streaming down the street. I'm living my dream of family bike rides.

So. . . my heart is encouraged! I dream and plan; the Lord directs my steps. He gives me the desires of my heart (first, for Him and for His will), graciously, generously, surprisingly.

781. Water nearby.
782. Family bike rides.
783. Boys catching turtles, frogs, grasshoppers. . .
784. Squash puree (adding nutrition to so many things!)
785. The first week with food left over at the end. Such a good feeling!
786. Reading books in the grass with the children.
787. Proverbs daily. Over and over and over. Sowing seeds.
788. Dream board reminders.
789. M's kisses.
790. Peppermint on headaches.