I seem to have less and less time, even though I backed our rising time to 6 AM! I am starting to doubt my teaching ability-------again! Or is it my methods? Why are all my children different? Some learn this way, some that. Only 2 like me!
These are rhetorical statements, of course, I KNOW all children are different, it can just be very frustrating. I have gotten away from lesson plans, and have little time to write them anyway with a new baby, and it is costing me time during school. I really think I might switch to Sonlight if I had the money, mostly for the lesson plans and great books! I am also frustrated with Ben. He has just got the winter blues and gotten lazy about schoolwork. If he was at home, I could get around this, switch up the topics, or have a unit study, but it is messing up his grades! Not a fun post, sorry!

Jennifer sent me a great Japanese potty chair! No more misses on the floor, AND Grant is really motivated. You get the great friend award, Jennifer! We laughed about the random snacks included in the box, and Ben tried to read them in Japanese, but was only successful with one.

We tried to make potato(whole wheat) bread and Fumi and chef salad last night. What with starting late, making too few mashed potatoes and having to run to the grocery store to get ingredients, we did not sit down to eat until 7:15! And the bread did not finish until after 8! People were grouchy from starvation and several frustrated from poor help, or lack thereof!

On the upside, while waiting for the bread to rise, we held a hoola hoop(or is it hula hoop) contest. Savannah has always been great at this activity(sport) and recently learned that it is fantastic for ab workouts. Anna has been a rising star, so we thought it would be fun to see how she held out. First we let other siblings attempt the overthrow. Grant and Ben were about equal in timing. Trinity was only slightly worse than Joel. Even Ivy only survived 42 seconds. Lo and behold, if Jeanette did not turn out to have a hidden talent for hula hooping! She barely moves when it whips around her. In fact, it turns out she can chicken dance while keeping the hoop moving! We stopped the contest after 20 minutes, as it was getting quite dark! Poor Anna-Laura did not get to compete at all, but knows her head is on the chopping block.
(In case you are wondering, Michael and I did not compete, though I DID try DDR this weekend, and my dance pad was squirrelly and quit midway through my song.)

We have been really busy lately. Last weekend I went up to visit my parents, son and daughter-in-law, and my 90 year old grandmother. I also got to visit briefly with my brother and sister and their children(respectively of course, not together.) It was a LONG exhausting trip, but I am glad we went. How do you interact with your grandmother when you know you may or may not see her come summer? It seemed like a lot of pressure to perform, yet a fine line so that dignity can be retained.
In my family it is considered taboo to talk about an actual problem(or any sort of sadness). The thing to do is to ignore it or dance around the topic. I have worked for years to get past this one. Only to find that perhaps the children did not need to know QUiTE everything. You know I am speaking tongue-in-cheek, I suppose. Again, A fine line to walk. I always feel like a bull in a china shop(I always hated this phrase) when it come to delicate issues or elegant things. I feel like I am loud and blundering, clumsy and chaotic. Which is why it cracks me up when people say I am gentle and patient!
How does laundry pile up when you are not even at home? I got so backed up last week with housework and trying(and failing) to get back on track in school. Two soccer games did not help. I DO have a schedule, but seemed totally unable to follow it. Savannah put us all on a more healthy LIFESTYLE, NOT DIET. That was REALLY expensive at the grocery store. Then, come to find out, this was actually a short week for us, and not the best to buy so many groceries. It was that whole "behind the power curve" feeling.
I have been pondering about how to improve my schedule, school and housework; and feeling vastly overwhelmed. I wanted to put up the picture of all of us with my family, so maybe I will pull it off Savannah's camera later this week. Today is soccer game day, again.

Isn't She Cute?

Cutest Baby Contest! UPDATE-vote as often as possible! WE are not actually hoping to win at this point, it seems some people are voting ALL day long, not something I expect anyone to do. I guess it is a much fiercer competition than I previuosly suspected. We tried all morning to get her into 50th place,but even with two computers we could not do it.
Savannah entered a picture of Liberty in the local paper for a contest. The winner is determined by votes. YOU can cast your vote here:
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/bestbaby/gallery/?page=30
The pictures MAY move around, so , if you do not see the above picture, type in her name.

After you click on "vote for this baby" you will go to a new page. You must scroll down and identify cat pictures to actually place your vote. It explains why on the site.

Just FYI, the winner gets gift certificates to local businesses for baby stuff.
The votes can be cast MANY TIMES every day from January 15 (at noon CST)through until the 31st. (Picture by Savannah.)

Also, I posted several pictures on my facebook and asked people to help me pick a new profile picture. Most of them are awful and hilarious. Feel free to vote there, also.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36948&l=d7023&id=725730929
Have fun!

I am busy with sick kids. Liberty turned out to have a really bad cold AND a double ear infection. Grant caught it and his is "croupy." Now Joel came down with it. Ivy says her throat is sore. Michael has had what we could call a "sour stomach" for over a week. I am thankful that I have not gotten sick(yet). Keep us in your prayers. Look for a special announcement requiring participation either later this evening or tomorrow!

For Savannah's birthday dinner, I made home made chicken nuggets, shells and cheese and spinach salad with strawberries, almonds and homemade dressing. Even with the kids helping, it took 2 hours. We had some discussions about presentation. Which is kind of funny since I took years to learn this.

I have those "Millers" books sold by Timberdoodle. They are about a Mennonite family and the everyday lessons the kids learn. They are charming, but sometimes preachy and occaisionaly off base. In one of them, the mom is out of town and the oldest daughter makes dinner, She can't figure out what the problem is with her meal. She thought it was made right, but it just doesn't seem to taste right. It turns out they have white plates and she made fish, mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Isn't that hysterical?

I made up the recipe for the chicken nuggets while in Japan, though usually I MUST have a recipe to cook with. I am a HUGE Chik-Fil-A fan, and of course, it is not available overseas, so I tinkered around to come up with a reasonable facsimile. I learned to make my own velveeta and cheese, and someone's mom made the salad and dressing for a potluck and kindly mailed it to me. It has poppyseeds, and is a vinagrette.

I ONLY fry these and okra, so I try not to feel guilty about serving these. They disappear quickly, too. Joel arranged the food and took the pictures, I hope you are not hungry while you are reading this. I'll make them for you if you come to visit!

***************By popular demand*************************

ok, the recipe goes something like this(more or less):

2 cups flour(plain)

1 cup sugar

with more than about 2 pounds of chicken, just adjust so that the ratio remains 2:1

then I add garlic salt, maybe a tablespoon?season salt, same, sea salt, tsp, some pepper. Last time I added mesquite flavor, just about a half a tsp. It was great. The seasonings are up to you, I think I usually use Lawry's season salt, but I have used steakhouse seasoning, though it was not my favorite. I may have added paprika...

I put it in a gallon size ziplock and add cut up white meat chicken. Then I shake it up. I fry in a fry daddy, but you could probably use a cast iron skillet. I fry it til golden brown.

I tried shaking in a bowl, but it did not work the same. Also, it cannot be done ahead of time or the chicken gets gooey with the breading and then it has a different texture. Fresh(read thawed) chicken works better than frozen.

Happy 22nd Birthday Savannah!!!

I cannot believe I became a mother 22 years ago today! I had NO idea what I was in for. She came in the middle of the night. I was amazed that a new human being had appeared. BAck in the day, they took the babies away to bathe them, etc. We could not stand for her to go alone, so Michael followed them and pressed his face against the nursery glass until they broke protocol and invited him in to bathe her himself. The nurse took it upon herself to come tell me she had never seen such a doting first time dad.

From then until now we have done so much together. Even now I amazed at the way she can see order in chaos, and beauty in the simple things. She is gifted musically( I cannot stay on my own notes), she is artistic and crafty(I have not the patience), and can organize anything. Needless to say, She did not learn much of this from me.

We are in fervent prayer for her future right now. She has finished her college requirements to graduate, but now what? She is in the process of applying for graduate school at Savannah college of Art and Design, but is not sure she will be accepted. And if she is, how will she pay for it? Should she go for the spring quarter or wait to begin in the summer(or fall)? In the meantime, she applied at the local paper, but they have not called her. Out of nowhere, I got a mass email from Nancy Campbell(publisher of "Above Rubies") saying she was desparate for help from a few young ladies who had finished their schooling. Is it a word from God? It does not pay, so even if she does that and then goes to grad school, shouldn't she just stay here and work as a waitress at Golden corral to raise living expenses? OR would it look better on a resume to have interned at a magazine? But then she would be away from us and leave again to go off to school. If she waits and does not help, but works at the restaurant, what happens if she does not get accepted? Michael says we should offer to pay her the money she would make so she can go(!). Hmm.

Having just come off her amazing trip to Australia, nothing can compare. I love that I can trust her to do what I would do with her brothers and sisters. Even going back to what I did with her, things I have gotten out of the habit of doing, like singing nursery rhymes with the kids. This morning we were all stumped for half an hour singing the end of a nursery rhyme, even scrambling around looking for a book of nursery rhymes before I rembered that the first line was "Sing a song of sixpence!" We had the rest already, isn't that silly?

I love that she is encouraging ME to look for a Beth Moore Bible study we can do together, and that she shows up for Bible study each morning with the other schoolage and younger siblings even though she really is not required to that. She is a prayer warrior and remembers the little details that are so important.

I love that she does not mind(much) looking very similar to how I looked 20+ years ago. Even looking YEARS younger than her age, much like I did(do? haha). I must say I think it is funny that she does not want her hair braided still because I apparently traumatized her by "practicing" on her so many times when she was little.

I love how she always insists on being healthy, but does not go overboard and turn vegan or something. It is a good reminder to include veggies and fruit. I am pretty good about it, but she is more attentive as to how often we have fresh stuff, etc.

I love how she volunteers to take the kids to do fun things, and thinks of ways to make things fun, like when she held "space night" for them when she was in high school and it included specialized food, several games, role playing and moonwalking, as well as looking at the moon through a telescope. BTW, she also videotaped the whole thing, so though we missed it because we were out on a date, we got to see it. Even our date was orchestrated, at the restaurant, the piano player had been given sheet music to play just for us, and the hostess brought out a floral arrangement she had delivered earlier.

I would go on, but there is getting to be fierce competition for this computer, and I want to include a picture!

Happy Birthday, Savannah, I love you!

Wordless Wednesday!

I decided to skip out on afternoon classes yesterday and enjoy 70 degrees in January. As we were walking down the beach, this plane suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Look how close it got to us! FYI, today is hotter!

more pix on facebook

I may have mentioned that I love Rich Mullins' music. Years ago I bought a sort of biography about him. One section has stayed with me and sprung to mind on the beach last week. Rich was asked about his lyrics and he said he thought that a line in his song "Boy like me/Man like you" was particularly funny. The line that goes" Did you ever make angels in the winter snow?" Because, of course, Jesus DID make the angels AND the winter snow! He thought that was hilarious. As Trinity made "sand angels" down the beach, I smiled to myself thinking about this.

Here are all the lyrics to that song:

Boy Like Me / Man Like You
Rich Mullins and Beaker

Matthew 2:21-23, Luke 2:39-52Colossians 1:9-14, Colossians 2:6-10

You was a baby like I was once

You was cryin' in the early mornin'

You was born in a stable Lord

Reid Memorial is where I was born

They wrapped You in swaddling clothes

Me they dressed in baby blue

But I was twelve years old in the meeting house

Listening to the old men pray

And I was tryin' hard to figure out

What it was that they was tryin' to say

There You were in the temple

They said You weren't old enough

To know the things You knew

Well, did You grow up hungry?

Did You grow up fast?

Did the little girls giggle when You walked past?

Did You wonder what it was that made them laugh?

And did they tell You stories 'bout the saints of old?

Stories about their faith?

They say stories like that make a boy grow bold

Stories like that make a man walk straight

And You was a boy like I was once

But was You a boy like me

Well, I grew up around Indiana

You grew up around Galilee

And if I ever really do grow up Lord I want to grow up and be just like You

Well, did You wrestle with a dog and lick his nose?

Did You play beneath the spray of a water hose?

Did You ever make angels in the winter snow?

And did they tell You stories 'bout the saints of old?

Stories about their faith?

They say stories like that make a boy grow bold

Stories like that make a man walk straight

Did You ever get scared playing hide and seek?

Did You try not to cry when You scraped Your knee?

Did You ever skip a rock across a quiet creek?

And did they tell You stories 'bout the saints of old?

Stories about their faith?

They say stories like that make a boy grow bold

Stories like that make a man walk straight

And I really may just grow up and be like You someday

For New Year's Day, we went back to the beach to make our "sandman".  Poor Mike Wade was too sick to play.  It was colder than last year, but still, a lot of fun!

We have a computer up, but it does not have the software loaded to be able to upload pictures. I am hoping Savannah will put some up on her facebook. I will be able to move them here.

This morning was one of those that begs for a memory snapshot. It started slow, Trinity woke me up, but then waited 'til I called her back. She played with the baby while I got ready. Later, as people drifted in for cereal, there was an impromptu gathering. All of a sudden, Savannah was playing the "can-can" on the piano, while Ben and Grant and Trinity danced with a large candy cane. I was feeding Liberty her cereal. Anna had just appeared and remarked, "Breakfast AND a show!"

Enjoy the mental picture!