Raising Olives

4 Moms of Many Make a Comeback

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:12:33 +0000

Join the Froggy hunt and win BIG. Froggy has moved and if you find him today on Raising Olives you get another entry to win 8 great prizes including gift cards to Amazon.com and Alice.

Yep, you read that right, 4 Moms, 35 Kids is headed back to a blog near you (or rather 4 blogs near you). After a nice maternity leave since 3 of the 4 moms had a baby (Connie welcomed baby Peyton Iva in May, KimC welcomed Parker Cromwell in June, and of course we welcomed Isabella Promise in July) next Thursday, August 5th, 4 moms of many will be back each Thursday.

Ever wondered what it’s like to manage a large family or curious how others do it? Hoping for some help for your growing family? Flabbergasted that we aren’t checking into an asylum? Think there are some secrets that we’re not sharing?

Every Thursday you will have the opportunity to get a glimpse into the homes of 4 moms of many:

Connie from Smockity Frocks
KimC from Life in a Shoe
The Deputy Headmistress from The Common Room

We’ll each be sharing our perspective on how we manage our larger than average families. From scheduling to laundry, homeschooling to cooking we’ll share what we’ve learned and what it’s like trying to keep up. We’ll share some of our triumphs and some of our struggles.

Each Thursday during the month of August we’ll be giving you a peek into a different area of our home and we’ll be including a linky so that if you can join in on the fun. This Thursday we’ll share about our yard and entryway, how we use them, what aspects work and what don’t and what we’ve done to make them more family friendly.

If you want to share about your yard and entryway just visit one of the 4 mom’s blogs next Thursday and sign up with the linky, your blog will appear on all 4 of our sites.

You may read our past topics and see a list of upcoming possibilities on the 4 Moms page. One of the favorite posts is where we live-blogged a day in each of our homes. Want to know what it’s really like? Those posts are a must read.

For lots of homeschool info or to ask homeschool related questions, please visit the homeschool page here on Raising Olives.

Tweet This Post

Updated Chore List for Our Large Family

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:59:50 +0000

Scroll down for a fun froggy scavenger hunt and super giveaway.

Having twelve people living in our home it is important for everyone to pitch in and help with everyday tasks. This allows us to serve others, do fun activities, projects and trips. I wrote about the importance of chores, how we train our children to work and what types of chores we give at what ages in my post Daily Chores.

We rarely switch chores around. We generally do it only as little ones and middle ones get old enough to take on more responsibility and during those times of “restructuring” we try to rotate the children so that they get experience with different tasks.

Our idea is that we would rather have them doing the same chore each day, week, month, so that they are good at doing it and we know that they know how to do it, so our standards can be pretty high. Whenever we switch chores it takes a while for everyone to learn their new duties and takes training to teach them, so for us it is just easier to keep things the same

We have 3 separate chore assignments during the day: Before Breakfast Chores, Regular Chores and Table Chores. Before breakfast chores happen before breakfast, duh. Regular chores are done immediately after breakfast and table chores after dinner each evening. (For table chores see our chore assignments from last year.)

You can see how these chore times fit into our daily schedule and also get a glimpse of what our schedule was like with 4 kids 3 years and younger.

Before Breakfast

Scheduled for 30 minutes each morning. During that time each child makes their bed, cleans their room, gets dressed, brushes teeth and hair and then:

Amber (13) – Makes breakfast
Kaitlin (12) -Cleans downstairs bathroom
Matthew (11) – Empties top and bottom rack of dishwasher
Alyssa (9) – Feeds dog and fish and tidies front porch and back deck
Carter (8) – Vacuums two upstairs area rugs (in family and living rooms)
Sadie (6) – Sets table and helps with breakfast
Savannah (5) – Makes mom and dad’s bed
Colby (3) – Empties silverware rack of dishwasher
Nicholas (2) – Empties trash cans from bathrooms
Isabella (3 weeks) – Prevents mommy from getting a shower

Regular Chores

(30 minutes immediately after breakfast) Most children have an area for which they are responsible. They tidy and do basic cleaning tasks everyday, in addition they have a specific deeper cleaning task each day. The goal is that everyone is able to complete all of their tasks within thirty minutes.

Amber (13) – Clean kitchen
Kaitlin (12) – Clean master bathroom AND Monday – wash windows, Tuesday – sweep and clear cobwebs off front porch and back deck, Wednesday – clear and dust rain gutter bookshelves, Thursday – clean out fridge, Friday – wash sliding glass doors.
Matthew (11) – Downstairs – tidy, dust and sweep
Alyssa (9) – Family room – tidy, dust and sweep
Carter (8) – Monday, Wednesday and Friday – vacuum downstairs. Tuesday and Thursday – vacuum and sweep in kid’s bedrooms and vacuum stairs.
Sadie (6) – Dining room – clear and wipe table, tidy, dust, vacuum and sweep
Savannah (5) - Kid’s bathroom – wipe down mirror, sinks, tub, and toilet, shake rugs outside and sweep floor
Colby (3) – Living room, entryway and hall – tidy, dust and sweep (using the dust pan and brush)
Nicholas (2) – help mommy
Isabella (3 weeks) – Wreak havoc with our plans and keep mommy from getting bored.

Interested in what our chore assignments were a year ago or what table chore assignments are? Questions?

Froggy hunt details:

Raising Olives is participating in a fun scavenger hunt giveaway along with 7 other blogs. You are competing for 8 prizes ($40 gift card to Amazon.com, $25 Alice gift card, a lovely handmade tote and one of Smockity Frocks famous oilcloth aprons plus more) and you have 8 opportunities to enter.

You’ll want to start your hunt here to read the complete entry rules and see all the prizes, then you’ll want to come back here and find the froggy.

There are 7 other blogs who are hiding a froggy:

~Hoosier Homemade
~iGoBoGo
~It’s A Blog Party
~Our Homeschool Home
~She Saved
~Smockity Frocks
~Tatertots and Jello

In one of my recent posts here on Raising Olives is a picture of a frog, you need to find that post, leave a comment there and then hop over to my BlogFrog community and leave a comment there telling me which post you found froggy on. Repeat for each of the above blogs. (Remember comment on the post with the froggy AND in the BlogFrog community of each blog.)

If you find froggy on each blog you’ll gain a total of 8 entries.

Tweet This Post

Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:33:36 +0000

Mark’s birthday was last week and as a fun (and super easy) dessert for his birthday the children decided that they wanted to make “Spaghetti and Meatball” Cupcakes.

No, it's not a big plate of spaghetti, they're cupcakes!

We got this idea from the adorable book Hello, Cupcake! After the kids and I had so much fun making the hamburger and ant cupcakes that we made for Memorial Day, I saw the book ‘Hello Cupcake’ in the store and purchased it for Sadie, our 6 year old gourmet wannabe.

This book is perfect for children because it doesn’t require special, hard-to-find tools or ingredients and the techniques are simple and explained clearly.

We did things the easy way and purchased vanilla cake mix and pre-made frosting (I know, I know after all my talk about making things from scratch, I’m using the 2-week old baby excuse. )

Ingredients we used to make 20 cupcakes/2 platters of spaghetti:

Vanilla cake mix
White frosting
White cupcake papers
Cocoa powder (for tinting frosting)
yellow food coloring (for tinting frosting)
sandwich bag (for creating the pasta)
hazelnut chocolates (Ferrero Rocher)
low-sugar strawberry preserves
2 TBL white chocolate

We tinted the frosting with a bit of cocoa powder and yellow food coloring until it looked the right color for pasta

and then laid 10 cupcakes out on each of two platters. Before we started making the ‘noodles’ the children lightly frosted each cupcake.

For the ‘noodles’ we spooned frosting into a sandwich bag, cut a very small hole in the corner and squeezed ‘noodles’ all over the frosted cupcakes ( I was nursing the baby and didn’t get a picture before the kids started adding meatballs).For the meatballs we opened the hazelnut chocolates, tossed them with strawberry preserves

and spooned one onto each cupcake.

For the finishing touch we finely grated some white chocolate and sprinkled over the top of the ‘spaghetti and meatballs’. Next we topped each plate of ‘spaghetti’ with birthday candles and served to the best husband/daddy in the world.

These cupcakes are SUPER easy and the children (9 and younger) were able to do everything with only minimal supervision.

This post is linked to Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade.

Happy Birthday, Mark. I’m very grateful to be able to grow OLD with you. ♥

Tweet This Post

Constructive Playthings New Toy Catalog

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:52:42 +0000

As a mom of 10 kids I’m pretty picky about the toys we own. We simply do not have the space to store lots and lots of toys. I like toys that are used often by a wide range of children and that encourage creative thinking, and/or cooperative play. I can literally walk all the way through some of our local big box toy stores and not wish to have any of the toys in the whole establishment.

Constructive Playthings recently sent us a catalog and unlike those big toy stores, I love the selection of toys that they feature. From educational options like this Interactive Bug Board to developmental options like these climb on, roll down, jump off soft play forms or this giant soccer ball and even a large selection of crafting supplies, the Constructive Playthings catalog has given me several good ideas for our end of summer ‘birthday season’ (four birthdays in 4 weeks).

The best part of the catalog are the clearance pages. I ordered this Mountain Rail Adventure Train set that is clearance priced for about 75% off normal for Colby’s birthday. Don’t forget that if you use the button in my sidebar, Constructive Playthings will give you 15% off your entire order, anytime.

For your own gift inspiration you may request a free toy catalog from Constructive Playthings, but you may want to hide if from your kids.

In other news:

4 Moms, 35 Kids will be returning in August and we’ll be giving you tours of our homes. Get your posts ready because we’ll be offering a link up.

Make sure you visit Raising Olives this Wednesday for a Froggy hunt with some fun prizes.

Tweet This Post

Bebe au Lait Giveaway and Review

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:35:41 +0000

A few months before Isabella was born I asked some of my friends about their favorite, can’t live without baby/mommy products. Bebe au Lait was one of the top recommendations.

Bebe au Lait is probably best know for their classy nursing covers (now that I’ve seen the quality of their other things I would love to have one of these), but they also offer high quality burp cloths, hooded towels, bibs and more.

Bebe au Lait sent me a pack of burp cloths and a hooded towel. Can you say luxury? I’ve burped and bathed nine babies before Isabella and have used a lot of burp cloths and baby towels but I’ve never had any of this quality before. These are not only beautiful (I always make sure that I have these burp cloths when I go out) they are also delightful to use and make me feel quite spoiled

Both are made of thick 100% cotton terry cloth and are embellished with Bebe au Lait’s signature 100% cotton fabrics. I love the lovely, classy fabric selection. The burp cloths and hood of the towel are made of a double layer of terry cloth for super absorbency where it’s really needed.

The burp cloths are a smaller than what I’ve typically used (16′” x 6″ after several washes) and when I first saw them I wondered if they would be adequate to catch all that a big spitter has to offer, but we’ve had no problems. I think the key is that these burp cloths are more absorbent and so rather than the spit-up rolling down the cloth and onto the floor (isn’t that what happens with the burp cloths you use?), the Bebe au Lait cloths absorb it.

The towel is sized generously enough to accommodate toddlers. It’s large enough for our tall 3 (nearly 4) year old to use comfortably.The quality materials, lovely trim and nice ‘extras’, like an inside loop for hanging, make me love this towel.

If you’ve read Raising Olives for long you know that I’m going to be honest with you and here it is. While I absolutely adore the burp cloths and the towel and was surprised at the quality and attention to detail, I am too cheap frugal and would not have paid the Bebe au Lait prices to purchase them for myself.

However, now that I’ve had the opportunity to use and enjoy these products and seen the quality first hand, I am purchasing them to use as baby gifts. The fabrics are classy and beautiful and most will work for either a boy or a girl. Bebe au Lait products offer just the right amount of ‘spoilage’ for a new mom and baby. The burp cloths are probably my favorites, I know that I would love to have another set!

While we’re talking about honesty. The above picture of sweet Bella apparently fresh from the bath and wrapped in the luxurious Bebe au Lait towel? Completely staged. Since Bella enjoys baths just as much as she enjoys daddy time, visitors or anything other than nursing and I didn’t think you wanted to look at this faceI nursed Isabella, stripped the sleeper off of her shoulders and quickly staged the happy not crying pictures (yes all of them) before she had time to realize that she wasn’t eating. Complete honesty? You’ll get it here.

Buy it:

Have a new baby arriving? A baby shower that you need a gift for? Want something special for a new baby and mom? Take a look at Bebe au Lait. They have this lovely gift set with a nursing cover and set of three burp cloths for $50, hooded towels for $40 and burp cloths 3 for $20.

Win it:

You know that I’m not going to leave you without an opportunity to win some Bebe au Lait. One Raising Olives reader will win a hooded towel with your choice of trim fabric from Bebe au Lait.

To enter:

Visit Bebe au Lait and then come back here and leave me a comment telling me which fabric you would choose and also if you have/use a nursing cover like Bebe au Lait offers.

Extra entries: (Please leave an additional comment for each entry)

Tweet about this giveaway (please leave a link or your user name)
Post a link to this giveaway on your Facebook wall or page
Post about this giveaway on your public blog (3 entries, please leave a separate comment for each entry)

Giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents and will end on Thursday, August 5th at 11:59 pm.

Tweet This Post

Hiking with Kids

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:16:37 +0000

Our family loves summer because of the opportunity to spend more time out of doors. We enjoy camping, fishing

Colby (3) with one of his catches

and water fights and games of tag in the backyard, but one of our favorite outdoor activities is exploring some of the hiking trails in our area.

Colby (3)

We’ve explored hollow logs,

Matthew (11) is brave enough to back into this huge hollow log

gotten caught in a thunderstorm, waded in creeks,

Sadie (6) after 'accidentally' falling into the creek

walked across dams, discovered a butterfly wonderland, hiked in the rain, played in waterfalls,

Kaitlin admires a waterfall

found new kinds of caterpillars, flowers and fruit, seen snakes, dragonflies and deer, but no bears (much to the children’s disappointment), gotten very muddy and Colby (3) is certain he found an owl tree.

Colby's owl tree

Hiking provides lots of opportunities for the kids to explore and learn in a real life setting. Isn’t that what homeschooling is all about?

Here are some tips to make the most of a hike with your kids.

Things to bring:

Portable snacks
Water bottles
Nature journals and pencils
Towels (for wading)
Containers to catch interesting critters
Camera (to take pictures of wildlife and plants that you want to learn more about)
Field guides (birds, plants, flowers, insects, etc.)
Sunscreen and bug spray
Binoculars
Whistles – Each of our children has a whistle hung around their neck when we hike. If they ever can’t see anyone in our family that they are to stop and blow their whistle until we come get them.

Things to do:

Hike slowly – let your kids explore their surroundings and wonder at the things that they see.
Be prepared for detours – kids love to climb rocks, follow side trails and explore water.
Have a picnic – We love to carry in granola bars, jerky, nuts and trail mix and then stop at some lovely spot and have a picnic lunch.
Wade or swim – You get bonus points if you find the perfect wading place and have your picnic there.
Talk to your kids – Hiking provides a wonderful opportunity to engage your children in discussion, to tell stories or talk about the wonders of God’s creation.
Let your kids be kids – Water and mud are easy to clean and your kids will joyfully tell their children about the adventures that you shared with them.
Hike in the rain – One of our kid’s favorite hikes was when we got caught in a massive thunderstorm about 2 miles from the car. We ended up running much of the way back to the car, arrived sopping wet and were thankful to blast the heat on the way home. While I wouldn’t suggest hiking in a thunderstorm, a little rain makes a hike an adventure.
Follow up when you get home – Look up unknown plants and animals, show the children the trail you followed on a map and answer any questions that you were unable to answer while you were ‘in the field’.

Do you enjoy hiking with your kids? What are some ways that you have fun and spend time with your kids during the summer?

Returning August 5th

Connie, KimC, the Deputy Headmistress and I are back together and we’re inviting you into our homes each Thursday during the month of August. What makes a home work for a large family and what doesn’t?

Get your cameras and posts ready because we’ll include a linky and you’ll have the opportunity to share your homes as well. August 5 we’ll talk about our yard/porch and entryway.

Click to go to the BF community to leave your comment

Popsicle is giving away three wonderful family trips in their Anything’s Possible with Popsicle Sweepstakes. To enter kids just need to visit popsicle.com/possibilities and enter the riddle answer from their Popsicle stick.

I’m a Popsicle Brand Ambassador through a compensated Mom Bloggers Club program.

Tweet This Post

Nick’s ERGObaby Doll Carrier

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:38:49 +0000

When the wonderful people (and I’m not just saying that, ERGObaby has been a delightful company to work with) at ERGObaby saw the video of Nicholas’ reaction to our ERGO they thought he would enjoy an ERGObaby doll Carrier of his very own. Um, yes!

I didn’t even know that ERGO offered doll carriers, did you? Nicholas loves his! He even calls his doll what we always call him and his big brother when we wear them.

That’s “ERGO baby” for those of you less familiar with 2 year old speech.

I wrote a full review of ERGObaby carriers or you may want to visit ERGObaby and just get your own.

I posted this because I wanted to and because our family loves ERGO. I was not compensated for this post.

Tweet This Post

Homemade Yogurt and Yogurt Cheese: Guest Post from Katie

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:46:01 +0000

A special thanks to Katie at Kitchen Stewardship for today’s guest post.

By making my own yogurt, I save at least $300 a year on just one food item. If your family eats yogurt at all, you’ve got to try this! (Ahem: if you don’t eat yogurt, allow me to introduce you to the health benefits of yogurt. You should be using this food often to nourish your family.)

When I think of all the plastic hitting the landfills, or even the recycle centers, from single serve containers of yogurt, my stomach turns. The expense to have this healthy super food on hand, especially for larger families, can be pretty intense. Even purchasing the 32 oz. tubs could mean $2/day for my little family of 3-and-a-half (the toddler eats…like a toddler…so I count her as half for now).

Beyond saving money, saving the earth, and keeping your family healthy, I’ll save you time. This is the easiest homemade yogurt method ever, especially if you hate dishes.

I make homemade yogurt almost once a week, and it takes me about 17 minutes, split up into four parts. I’m willing to teach you my secret method, but only if you promise to get your kids to eat yogurt with as little sugar as possible. The basic steps of yogurt-making are easier than chocolate chip cookies:

Heat to sterilize the milk. (185 degrees)
Cool milk to proper incubation temperature. (90-120 degrees)
Add starter yogurt.
Incubate at warm temperature 4-24 hours.

Supplies necessary:

Glass jars (quart canning jars or empty mayo or spaghetti sauce jars work great)
Milk (any, from skim to whole)
Candy thermometer, but I can show you how to do it without one too
Pot large enough to hold your glass jars
2 Tbs of plain yogurt per quart of milk (Buy the freshest yogurt possible at a store and make sure it has “live and active cultures”. I prefer Dannon. I know it has the three top cultures that I’m looking for to help the gut. The little cups are often on sale for 40-50 cents.)
picnic cooler
bath/beach towel
timer

Prep:

Run jars and lids through the dishwasher to sterilize. Allow them to dry very thoroughly, then cap and store them.
Get out picnic cooler and clean bath towel.

Method

1. Put jars in the pot with a sink washcloth underneath.
2. Pour milk into your jars to about an inch from the top.
3. Place jars into the pot and fill pot with tap water around the jars.
4. Cook on high heat until boiling and get the milk to about 185 (you can’t burn it with this method, so if you forget it for a while, it’s OK!). Turn off the heat and put lids on the jars.
5. Put the pot in the cooler with the towel underneath and the lid on both pot and cooler.
6. Cool milk. You can do it on the counter, in the garage in winter, or in a sinkful of cold water with ice packs.
7. Get milk to about 110 degrees. I know the milk is about ready when I can pick up the jars and hold them without burning my hands.
8. Stir in ~2 Tbs. plain yogurt for each quart of milk.
9. Get those lids on again and nestle your jars in the cooler. Keep them wrapped in one half of the towel and take the lid off the pot to let the heat out, then close the lid of the cooler to keep the heat in.
10. My yogurt jars happily nestled in the cooler, ready to incubate. Before I close the lid, I’ll wrap the towel end from the right around the jars.
11. Incubate 4-24 hours. Shorter incubation makes sweeter yogurt, longer is more tart. Also lower incubation temperature makes sweeter yogurt and higher makes more tart. I’ve had good success between 4 and 8 hours.
12. When the time is up, put the jars into the freezer for about an hour. Do not stir first. No room in the freezer? They can go right into the fridge.
13. That’s it! You have created yogurt!

I know a lot of people make slow cooker yogurt, but I hate dishes so much that washing that big insert just kills me. I’d rather dump the water out of my pot to air dry, put my cooler away and be done.

But Wait! There’s More!

Here’s another trick with your homemade plain yogurt, no matter what method you use. It’s a great money saver, another way to get probiotics into your family’s diet, and so simple I’m almost embarrassed to call it a recipe. Yogurt can be made into yogurt cheese in a few simple steps, and the result is nearly exactly like cream cheese, but at half the price of the best sale you’ll find.

You simply dump the contents of one jar into a tea-towel-lined colander over a bowl:

Then hang the towel to drain for about 4 hours.That’s how easy it is to get cream cheese in the tea towel (about a cup) and whey in the bowl (about 3 cups).

That was a very quick explanation, so if you’d like more details, you can see how to make yogurt cheese back at Kitchen Stewardship.

More Information

If you’re nervous and would like more detailed instructions for the yogurt, my post on making homemade yogurt leaves out no details.
What can you do with homemade yogurt? See this list of homemade yogurt recipes
Here are my top 4 tips for eating less sugar in your yogurt.
If you make cream cheese, you might wonder: What do you do with whey?

Katie blogs at Kitchen Stewardship, where she offers weekly Monday Missions to help you balance stewardship of God’s gifts of health, earth, time and money. Find practical baby steps, healthy recipes, green living ideas and prayerful encouragement. You can also follow Katie on Twitter.

Tweet This Post

Not Me: Spoiling the Baby

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:22:47 +0000

Our whole family is NOT completely goo-goo over our sweet new baby girl. We are a sensible, productive family so tiny ears, crossed eyes and soft skin are NOT enough to make us all want to just sit around holding and admiring a tiny baby.

Isabella was NOT over a week old before she ever slept outside of someone’s arms.

Whenever Mark or I wish to put Isabella down there is NOT a loud clamor from the children with everyone offering to hold her and reminding us who had the last turn.

The children do NOT remind each other, “She doesn’t like to be laid down” or “She likes to be snuggled up against you” or “She likes to look out the window”. We do NOT think that there is any possibility that Bella is spoiled, after all she’s the youngest of 10 children, we can’t possibly give her enough attention, there is no worry about her getting too much.

Since I had a c-section and am supposed to be taking it easy, I have NOT lifted and moved the couch in order to vacuum under it, nor done a workout video involving lots of squats. That would be silly.

While at the dinner table last week, Mark did NOT use a burp cloth instead of a napkin to wipe his face.

I’d love to do a post(s) about parenting, any questions/topics you’d like me to cover? (Although now that you know how ‘spoiled’ Bella is maybe you’d like to ask someone else. )

Tweet This Post

Sonlight Review and Giveaway

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:25:15 +0000

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Celee @ Miscellaneous Musings of a 5X Mom who won the $50 gift card to Sonlight.

Our family just started our seventh year using Sonlight. I have posted about Sonlight before, how we use it to effectively educate children who are at many different levels and how Sonlight fits into our daily schedule. For our family Sonlight has been a tremendous blessing. I often say that Sonlight changed our homeschool from a lecture into a conversation. I love the discussion and conversation that it has brought to our family and with that the opportunity to get to know our children better.

What does Sonlight offer?

You can purchase all of your homeschool curriculum from Sonlight.com. They offer some of our favorite programs for electives like Rosetta Stone for foreign language and Artistic Pursuits for art to basics like handwriting and math programs. Of course they also have a large offering of quality literature that is recognized by nearly all in the homeschooling community to be top notch.

What makes Sonlight stand out to me from other homeschool curriculum providers is that if Sonlight offers or recommends a program or curriculum, it is a program that is worth looking into. They attempt to offer products that fit with their excellent educational philosophy and so many of the lesser programs are weeded out.

Of course Sonlight is most well known for their original history curriculum (which includes Bible, poetry and literature). They also offer their own science and language arts programs. These programs are all literature based and are best implemented in a family where the parents are willing to invest time into reading to and interacting with their children. I also find that Sonlight’s programs are especially well-suited to multi-level teaching and educating a large family.

Sonlight’s History Curriculum

The backbone of Sonlight’s history program is the Instructor’s Guide. The IG (instructor’s guide) is divided into two main sections, the schedule and the study guides. Sonlight provides study guides for all of the books that you and your children will be reading over the course of the year.

The schedule.

Each day’s assignments are clearly laid out in the Sonlight schedule, the pages/chapters that should be read in each book along with time line and map assignments. To me this is the heart of Sonlight. This is what allows me to spend very little time in preparation for school, but rather spend my time teaching and interacting with my children.

Each day has a Bible reading and memorization assignment in addition to an assignment for further study or perhaps the children are introduced to a people group or nation that needs prayer. It was this portion of Sonlight that, years ago, burdened our then 4 year old son for the street children of India. He still, at age 11, believes that God has called him to be a missionary to that nation.

The history portion involves reading assignments in several books about one central event or person giving the kids more than one perspective and depth about the day’s topic. It also notates when you should add important events and people to the time line and do the map work.

The children have an independent reading assignment each day that coincides with the topics, peoples and cultures that are being studied.

Lastly are the read aloud assignments. Poetry is a regular part of the Sonlight curriculum from the very beginning levels. This gives the children regular exposure to all types of poetry and provides the opportunity for discussion, memorization and appreciation of poetry. In addition to poetry you and your children will be reading through many wonderful literature classics in addition to some lovely newer works.

The Study Guides

The study guides for the books that you will be reading include more information and ideas than needed. Here is a smattering of things that the study guides include:

Specific time line assignments
Map assignments and maps
Important facts from the day’s reading which provide good ideas for writing topics
Vocabulary words with definitions
Discussion questions
Historical notes that enhance the children’s understanding of the story and characters
Comprehension questions
Websites for further research
Narration topics/ideas

Our Thoughts

This review is specifically in reference to Sonlight Core 6 and how we are using it this year.

I’m once again thankful and impressed by Sonlight’s balanced and fair approach to history. Core 6 uses “The Story of the World” as one of it’s main history readers. When I read the Sonlight study guide for this book and I was forewarned that “The Story of the World” does not stick with the Bible’s revelation of events. This was an important thing for me to know because I had considered purchasing the CD version of this book, but after reading “The Story of the World” for myself I would not want my kids to listen to it over and over without the commentary and discussion that we are having as we read it together. (We’ve actually skipped much of what “Story of the World” has to say about Biblical times because it’s just blatantly unbiblical! We’re considering substituting Mystery of History and skipping SOTW completely.)

I relate this about “The Story of the World” because I think this is a good example of how Sonlight handles book selection and why parents should be involved if they choose to use Sonlight. They do not shy away from a quality book because it may include something objectionable or some inaccurate information, but they clearly notate potential problems or areas of disagreement and leave it up to the parent on how to handle those issues. This is why I don’t recommend Sonlight to those who want a curriculum that they can hand to their children without any discussion or time investment. I also pre-read ALL of the Sonlight books that we won’t be reading aloud with the children.

How we are using Sonlight 6

This year our family is using Core 6 with our children ages 5-13. For the younger children (age 3-8) I am supplementing with resources from Core 1 which covers the same time period.

I think the key to successfully using Sonlight is flexibility, being able to use and teach the information that you believe is important, but not feeling as if you have to use and teach all of the information that is offered. On some days we don’t even look at the study guides and on others I give the children additional assignments and research from them.

We daily read aloud and discuss all the assignments from the Bible, History and Read Aloud portions of the Sonlight schedule. We also work on the time line and map assignments together. The younger children are our map experts since our older kids are already quite familiar with this geography.

Each day the children have a Bible study assignment that they work on individually and most days I pull a writing assignment for the children from the Sonlight readings or study guide. Those who are not old enough to write or who are just beginning writers also narrate to Mark or me. We also use the Sonlight readers as the source for our copy work and dictation.

We use the poetry selections to encourage the children to keep a poetry journal. Each week they choose their favorite poem from our readings and they copy this into their own book and illustrate as they see fit.

At the dinner table each night we discuss and review the topics that were covered during the day. Again this is part of our family conversation and contributes to a lifestyle of learning.

Every week I also incorporate a hands-on project that relates to Sonlight’s history. The last few weeks the children have made paint (like that used in the cave drawings), mud bricks with and without straw (like the Israelites), created coil pottery, bead necklaces, a model shaduf and written in hieroglyphics on clay tablets. (These projects are NOT part of the Sonlight curriculum but they are easy to incorporate with a little internet research.)

What we love

The educational philosophy- Learning is not simply cramming facts into brains, but that history in particular is about understanding the story, what people of that time believed and thought and how that affected decisions and events that changed the course of history.
The format and layout – Sonlight is extremely user friendly, simple to use and implement.
The books. It seems like each book we read is the children’s new ‘favorite’ and nearly everyday they beg for me to ‘please read one more chapter’.
The adaptability. On days that are full with other life events, it’s easy to go lighter on the discussion and assignments. It’s also simple to beef up a child’s work with additional research and writing work.
Multi-level teaching – This allows us to accomplish many of our other family goals such as building relationships and discipling our children as we learn together.
Focus on missions and a perspective of the global need for Christ
Our kid’s love of reading – Reading is one of our favorite family past times, it seems that they will never get enough.

What we don’t love

Some book selections – Sonlight does not have the same standards for our children that we do. That said, in 6 full years of Sonlight there have been less than a handful of books that we’ve had our children skip. There have been some that we’ve read aloud to enable discussion of different issues.
Light on the amount of Biblical history that is incorporated – We’ve solved this problem by focusing on Biblical history during our family worship and using Mystery of History to pull in more Biblical history and perspective during the appropriate time periods.

Buy it

If you would like to purchase Sonlight you may follow this link and receive $5 off any order of $50 or more and I’ll receive Sonlight credit on a portion of your order.

Win it

Sonlight is giving away a $50 gift card to Sonlight.com to one Raising Olives reader. You may use this to purchase some of their history curriculum or any of their book or other curriculum offerings.

To enter:

Visit Sonlight.com and then come back and tell me what you would be interested in purchasing with your $50 gift card.

Additional entries: (Please leave an additional comment for each extra entry)

‘Like’ Sonlight on Facebook (please leave your Facebook name)
Post a link to this giveaway on Facebook
Tweet a link to this giveaway (please leave your username)
Post about this giveaway on your blog (public blogs only) (3 entries)

This giveaway will end at 11:59 pm on Thursday, July 22.

Sonlight sent our family Core 6 in order to facilitate this review. I was not otherwise compensated and all opinions and ideas are my own.

Tweet This Post

Our Insufficiency

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:17:25 +0000

Our culture and our world emphasize self-esteem and a pride in our accomplishments, but usually the best place to be is not a place of self-confidence, but a place where we recognize our failures and shortcomings, where we realize that we are not sufficient and where we are forced to fall on our knees and beg God for His mercy.

We are always challenged as parents. We are humbled. Even on our best days, we come up short. My two-year-old offers me her little drawing of scribbles. “Wook, Daddy, wook!” she says. My reaction s not to throw it back at her in a rage saying, “What is this? Just a bunch of scribbles on a piece of paper? Take it away!” No. I take her up in my arms and say, “Thank you sweetheart! You drew this for me?” I post it over my desk. She gave me a little piece of her heart. She wanted to please me with the drawing, and she is pleased when she sees that I am pleased.

Similarly, when we parents, as the adopted children of our heavenly Father, present our parenting work to God as scribbles on a piece of paper, we must believe that He will accept it and that His grace will cover us. We must believe that when God posts our grubby, blotchy artwork, He really can turn it into something great. It is only then that we realize what we really mean when we cry out to our children, “My son, give me your heart.” ~ Kevin Swanson “Upgrade“

The truth is that we are not sufficient, that we can’t do a ‘good enough’ job. If we fail to recognize this then we are liable to miss the most important ingredient in the raising of a godly seed, God’s mercy and grace.

Tweet This Post

My Life at the Moment

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:24:28 +0000

I’m getting quite spoiled because my hubby and kids are amazing. After I finished nursing the baby on Monday morning I came out to find that the kids were finishing their chores and Mark was already washing the assigned laundry loads for the day (laundry systems for large families).

You wonder if it gets easier? As friends bring food over, they give heating directions to Amber (13) or Kaitlin (12) rather than to me. I just show up with the baby when it’s time to eat. The kids have handled all the house and kitchen work (with some supervision from Daddy) and Mark is the laundry master.

So what have I been doing?

It's rough, but someone has to do it.

Mark is back at work today and my plan is to get back to our regular schedule with school, cut the little girl’s hair and when Bella gets fussy we’ll go for a walk around the neighborhood with baby in the Moby Wrap (stay tuned for a full review and an opportunity to win your own Moby).

Still on maternity leave. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks Raising Olives will get back to being a source of useful information, rather than just a journal of our lives, but we’re all just having too much fun playing games and loving on babies.

Want some real info? Check out my page tabs at the top; parenting, homeschooling, saving money , recipes and more.

Tweet This Post

Does It Get Easier? – Guest Post From Amy

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:18:56 +0000

Today’s post is from Amy who blogs at Raising Arrows. Amy is the mother of soon-to-be seven children and has lived through what most parents pray that they will never experience, the death of a child. Amy blogs about parenting, homeschooling and life in this imperfect world at Raising Arrows.

Amy's kids

At the age of 29 with four small children, I remember feeling worn out. Because I had all “littles” and no “bigs,” the bulk majority of the household responsibilities rested with me. Sure, the children helped, but rather than “many hands make light work,” it was more like, “little hands make more work.” I wondered if things would ever get easier.

At 33, with a 12 year old by my side, I can truthfully tell you things do get easier. However, I know just how hard it can be to see the forest for the trees when you are standing in the middle of it all. You don’t want to just muddle through, but that seems to be all you ever manage. There has to be a better way, right?

Even the moms-of-many who have older children have days of just muddling through, but there is a lot to be said for thriving, rather than just surviving. So, what can you do when you are a mommy of littles to make the most of this season?

Lower your expectations.

You look at other families or websites with all these children working and playing alongside each other and you wonder, “Will that ever be my family?” I remember the days of wishing the conversation around the dinner table was something more edifying and interesting than the baby crying and the toddler spilling her water for the third time. I longed for something that wasn’t even possible for my family, and it made me sad.

However, when you lower your expectation of what things *should* look like, and focus more on where you are now and what you can do as a family now, you stop longing after the future.

Let your littles work alongside you. Let them do less-than-perfect work. Play their silly games. Laugh with them and love on them. You are in a season of sowing seeds. Accept that the fruit comes later.

Implement what you can now.

I wrote a post a while back about adopting a large family mentality even when you aren’t a large family. This is probably the number one thing I did as a mom of only littles that saved my sanity!

I learned to implement a bath routine, a morning routine, shopping rules, table rules, and a myriad of other ideas I gleaned from moms much further down the parenting road than I. Large families, by default, are efficient, and no matter what size or age your family is, gathering from their wisdom and putting it into practice before you need it, makes for a much smoother day.

The future is bright.

“All littles and no bigs” will not always define your family. When I was in that stage, I had an older mother tell me that by the time my oldest was nine, I would see a difference. Nine seemed a long way away, but she gave me hope.

Guess what?! She was right! My oldest child was a huge help by that time, and I could see the other children beginning to follow his example. It was exciting to see years of training pay off! So, never fear! Littles DO grow into bigs!

When it comes down to it, it is all about perspective. Enjoy where you are now, train for the future, love what you do. No matter how little or how big they are, you are blessed to be their mommy!

Amy is a follower of Christ, a wife to one man, a mother to many, a thinker, a writer, a homeschooler. Amy chronicles what her life is like at Raising Arrows.

Tweet This Post

Not Me: New Baby

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:11:01 +0000

When Colby (3) first saw Isabella’s umbilical cord he did not say, ” Mommy why is hers private not in hers diaper?”

My feet and ankles are not still swollen nearly beyond recognition (thanks to all of the IV fluids). IF they were swollen my kids would not add insult to injury by writing “MOM” on my ankles and feet by pressing them and laughing at the indentations.

It has not become quite obvious that tick season is in full swing in our back yard. We’ve certainly not seen this more than one time necessitating daily tick checks.

Nick’s (2) current favorite question is not, “Mommy, what is BabyBella crying about?”

The sweet lady who came in to give Isabella her first bath asked Mark if Isabella was the littlest of our 10 children. When Mark began to answer that no some of our children have been 6 or 7 pounds(Isabella was over the sweet lady did not say that she was asking if 3 hour old Isabella was the YOUNGEST of our 10 children.

The first night in the hospital Mark was NOT so tired that he couldn’t figure out how to pull out the hospital bed/couch to the full length. So he and Alyssa did NOT spend an uncomfortable night on a bed that was waaaay too short

We do NOT allow topless sunbathing on our deck, no matter what the excuse (jaundice).

I’m not going to bore you with pictures that have nothing to do with this post, just because I think our baby/kids are really cute.

Bella ready for church

All 10 of our children going to church together for the first time

Tweet This Post

Popsicle Twitter Party

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:21:18 +0000

Popsicle and Mom Bloggers Club are hosting a #slowthemelt Twitter party this Wednesday, July 14 from 6-8pm EST.

Popsicle has teamed up with National Geographic to help children Slow The Melt. Each time someone tweets using the hash tag #slowthemelt from July 12- August 15, 2010 Popsicle will donate $1 up to $25,000, to the National Geographic™ Polar Fund.

During the Twitter party you will have the opportunity to win full value coupons for Popsicle products as well as one of several copies of the Big Book of Fun filled with jokes, mazes, puzzles and more kid-friendly activities. If you’re interested in attending the #slowthemelt Twitter party please RSVP here.

Don’t forget your family has the opportunity to win an amazing experience with the Anythings Possible with Popsicle Sweepstakes. You could swim with dolphins in Florida, dig for dinosaurs in Wyoming or explore the universe by attending Space Camp in Alabama. To enter simply go to popsicle.com/possibilities and enter the riddle answer from your Popsicle stick.

I’m a Popsicle Brand Ambassador and this is a compensated post through a Mom Bloggers Club program.

Tweet This Post

Pillsbury Gift Pack Giveaway w/ $25 Sam’s Gift Card

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:24:08 +0000

This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Gen at Girls and Sunflowers for winning the Pillsbury Prize Pack.

Did you know that Sam’s carries Pillsbury Chocolate Chunk Fudge Brownies? I’m not talking about a mix in a box, I mean fresh, already baked, ready to eat chocolate with chocolate fudge and chocolate chunks brownies. Yes, they’re a bit dangerous for a diet, but they’re perfect for those time when you’re supposed to bring dessert and put it off until the last minute or when you’re taking a meal to someone in need and want a quick easy dessert to add.

Y0u can stop by Sam’s on the way to your functions and have a delicious dessert that is ready to eat. Another huge benefit? These brownies serve a lot (and this coming from someone who feeds 12 people on a daily basis).

Thanks to Pillsbury and My BlogSpark our family had the opportunity to try the Pillsbury Chocolate Chunk Brownies. We thought these would be perfect for the kids to decorate for Isabella’s ‘birthday’ and bring to the hospital.

Colby (3) and Matthew (11) decorate some brownie for Isabella

We gave each of the oldest children their own section of brownie to decorate with the help of one of their younger siblings.

The children with their masterpieces

They had a lot of fun and enjoyed making something special for Isabella.

We all enjoyed celebrating Isabella’s birth with these brownies and I enjoyed not having to make them!

Alyssa (9) offers Isabella (3 hours) a piece of brownie. (My mom is holding Isabella)

Alyssa even made sure that Isabella had an opportunity to try them out.

Pillsbury, My BlogSpark and Sam’s have teamed up to provide one of these Pillsbury Prize Packs to one Raising Olives reader.

The Prize Pack inlcudes:

A $25 Sam’s gift card so that you can purchase your own Pillsbury Chocolate Chunk Brownies (WARNING: these are addictive!!)
2 tubs of Betty Crocker frosting
Deluxe Decorating Set – so you can personalize your dessert if you like
A large lidded container to make transporting your brownies a snap

To enter:

Leave a comment on this post telling me how you would use the Pillsbury Chocolate Chunk Brownies from Sam’s or feel free to tell us how cute Isabella baby is.

Extra entries: (please leave an additional comment for each entry)

Share a link to this giveaway on your Facebook page.
Tweet about this giveaway (please leave the URL or your Twitter ID)
‘Like’ Raising Olives on Facebook
Post about this giveaway (3 entries, please leave 3 separate comments)

Giveaway will end at 11:59 pm on Thursday, July 15.

Tweet This Post

Her Name…

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:00:44 +0000

Isabella Promise – pronounced eesabella (long ‘e’), not izabella).

Her name carries a lot of meaning to us and we thought it deserved it’s own post.

Isabella means God is my vow. Bella, which is probably what she will be called means beautiful. (Nick (2) already calls her ‘BabyBella”)

Bella is one of our family’s favorite movies. If you haven’t seen it, you should.

The message of the movie is the beauty and the preciousness of life. We pray that our little Isabella, being a 10th child, will convey the beauty of life simply by the fact of her existence. That she will demonstrate love of life in the midst of a world that values it lightly. That we will realize and remember that life is a gift from God and one of His greatest blessings to us. We pray that we, as a nation, will learn to value and protect it.

Bella, the movie, holds more significance to our family. It portrays a lovely glimpse into the Hispanic culture and heritage that our children inherit from their father. Each time we see it Mark comments on the wonderful memories of family gathering around a laden table, laughing and loving together.

Promise – This reminds us of all the promises that God gives to us, His people, promises of amazing blessings and faithfulness that we don’t deserve.

The promise that we most remember as we name our child is the promise that God will be a God to us and to our children after us. We pray this EVERY day for each of our children and as we name little Isabella Promise, we pray it for her. We pray that she will never remember a day when she did not love her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So as we name our sweet baby we think of the privilege with which God has blessed us, ten of His precious children to raise for His glory. We think of the beauty and blessing of each life that He has given. We rejoice in our rich heritage and we thank God for His promises to His people.

♥

I intend to write and tell the story of Isabella’s birth. It was blessedly uneventful and God answered your prayers and demonstrated His kindness to us in many, many unexpected details. (i.e. Our next door neighbor here in the hospital is a friend of ours who had her baby just hours before Bella was born and across the hall another friend had her baby just hours after Bella.) From laughter to tears and back we are grateful for God’s faithfulness to us even in the details and rejoice in a healthy baby and safe birth.

However, right now I can hardly take my eyes off of our beautiful daughter and am trying to soak up every single moment.

I’ve scheduled some posts for the upcoming days and have several fun stories that I hope to share, so things won’t be too quiet around here, but primarily I am on maternity leave.

You can make Amber’s (13) day by thanking her for posting the stats and picture of Isabella otherwise I would have left you in suspense until now.

Thank you again for your prayers (keep them coming) and for taking the time to leave comments (love them) and let us know that you are rejoicing with us. You have truly blessed our family.

Tweet This Post

Anything’s Possible With Popsicle

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:57:46 +0000

The kids enjoy their Popsicles while watching some dry ice melt.

There is something particularly wonderful about kids, outdoors, imagination and Popsicles. During the summer months our kids will spend hours outside creating their own worlds and living their own adventures. I love calling the kids up to the deck for a break after they’ve been playing hard digging the Panama Canal or searching for grave robbers in ancient Egypt and offering them a Popsicle.

This summer Popsicle is giving your children an opportunity for their imaginations to come to life . With the Anything’s Possible With Popsicle Sweepstakes your children will have the opportunity to win one of three amazing family experiences. You may get to dig for dinosaurs in Wyoming, dive with dolphins in Florida or go beyond our world by attending Space Camp in Alabama.

Thanks to Popsicle our family recently had the opportunity to try the new Jolly Rancher Popsicles. Each Popsicle has layers of colors and flavors making them kid-appealing and better yet they have that addictive, sweet-sour taste of Jolly Ranchers. These are not just your kid’s Popsicles, Mark and I both thoroughly enjoyed them and Mark has already requested that I purchase some for him to have on hand while he’s home from work after the birth of our baby.

The next great thing from Popsicle are the Dora the Explorer Slow Melt pops. These Popsicle pops stay frozen longer than regular Popsicle pops, which means less mess and fewer drips. When you multiple every kid mess by 10, less is greatly appreciated. This also means that kids can enjoy their Popsicles longer and mom is able to stop saying, “Please just eat your Popsicle”. Fun shapes and Dora on the box add to the kid appeal.

Of course one of the things our kids enjoy about the Popsicle are the jokes written on the stick of each one.

You may enter the Anything’s Possible With Popsicle Sweepstakes to win the family experience of a lifetime or one of the daily prizes by visiting Popsicle.com and entering the riddle answer from your Popsicle stick.

I’m a Popsicle Brand Ambassador through a compensated Mom Bloggers Club program. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post about these products are my own.

Tweet This Post

She’s Here

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:39:23 +0000

Our adorable baby girl was born this morning at 7:45 a.m! Both mommy and baby are doing well.

here are her stats:

Weight: 8 pounds 9 ounces.

Length: 21 inches.

Thank you everyone for your prayers.

Her name and it’s meaning

Tweet This Post

Heading to the Hospital

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:00:24 +0000

It’s hard to believe that in just a few short hours we should be holding our newest child, that God could possibly be good enough to bless us with another baby. It is much more than we deserve and we glory in His goodness and grace to our family.

39+ 1 weeks, transverse baby

I am very excited and a little nervous. I am astounded and thankful for all of the people who are praying for us, thank you!

We get to be at the hospital between 5 and 5:30 this morning and surgery is scheduled for 7:30, so probably by the time most of you read this we will be loving on our new little girl.

The baby continues to be transverse so Dr. V will do an ultrasound just before we head into the c-section.

Being able to plan this birth has been a blessing. Each of our oldest 3 daughters (13, 12 and 9) will have an opportunity to stay in the hospital for a time to help out and spend some one-on-one time with me and the baby. They are each looking forward to their turn and hope that I stay in the hospital a long time so they each get plenty of time.

This is a good opportunity for me to thank them because when we get home from the hospital a lot will be falling on their shoulders. They are always a huge help and blessing to us, but over the next few weeks we will rely on them even more as I recover and we all adjust to having a new little person in the house.

Stay tuned…

Tweet This Post

Not Me: The Day Before BABY

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:50:32 +0000

Since we put the baby seat in the van I’ve NOT had dozens of heart stopping moments as I’ve seen it and thought, “Oh no, we left the baby in the car” only to realize “I’M STILL PREGNANT”. No worries about leaving the baby anywhere.

Being 9 months pregnant and leaning over to pick up toys isn’t high on my list of fun, but I certainly do NOT crawl around on the floor picking up toys and I do NOT crawl from one room to the next just to avoid having to stand up.

Mark and I did NOT look at each other at 12:10 am this morning and say, “Tomorrow we’re having a baby.” Nope, not us. We’ve already done this 9 times, so we are NOT excited that we get to meet our new daughter face to face TOMORROW!!!!

Since we are having a baby tomorrow, Nicholas (2) did NOT wake up with a fever of 102 and he does not currently look like this:

No way any of the children will be sick just in time for the birth of our baby.

You may want to read about why we’re having our first c-section after nine children or our birth stories. I also post about homeschooling and parenting.

Tweet This Post

Constructive Playthings Giveaway and Bristle Blocks Review

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:56:05 +0000

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Amy @ Memoirs of a Homemaker for winning a $50 gift card to Constructive Playthings.

When we were told that we would get to pick the first item that we wished to review from the Constructive Playthings website, I had a good idea that we would pick some type of building toy.

Nearly all of our children love to build and with the two youngest being boys the building craze doesn’t seem that it will pass anytime soon. When Mark saw the set of Bristle Blocks, one of his childhood favorites, it was a done deal.

About the Bristle Blocks set:

Alyssa's (9) car

The Constructive Playthings set of Bristle Blocks contains 160 pieces in a wheeled box for tidy storage. These soft vinyl blocks covered with bristles stick together on contact and remain together while the children build vehicles, animals and buildings or something completely from their imagination.

With windows and roofs, wheels, triangles, spheres and circles in addition to the more traditional rectangles, columns and squares, children are presented with many possibilities and ideas for hours of creative play. There were enough blocks in this set to keep 6 of our kids happily playing for nearly an hour. (Although the wheels were in high demand and likely to be stolen right off your vehicle if you weren’t vigilant.)

These are the same bristle blocks that you knew and loved as a child and we are thrilled that our children now have the opportunity to learn and create with these classic educational toys.

What the experts our kids thought:

Carter's (8) creature

The Bristle Blocks have been a hit primarily with our boys ages 2, 3, 8 and 11. They enjoy making buildings, vehicles and guns. They’ve even created cities with streets for the vehicles to travel and will play together for long stretches of time, especially if I’m reading aloud or they’re listening to a story on CD.

Nicholas (2) gets especial pleasure by building things and then banging them on the ground until they fall apart.

So far, I’m still stepping on Bristle Blocks nearly everyday which tells me that the novelty has not worn off. I think that may be my excuse for being such a sucker for building toys, they offer wonderful open ended play and the children do not easily tire of them. Often the most loved toys are also the most simple.

Pros:

Open ended creative building toy.
Plenty of pieces and a large variety of shapes for creativity.
WHEELS
Soft vinyl, so it’s not too bad when you step on them.

Cons:

Some of the pieces (especially those with fewer bristles) do not stay together very well and this frustrates some of my more elaborate architects.
The wheels must be installed with the ‘right’ side on the vehicle and our 2 and 3 year old have not been able to figure this out yet.

Colby (3), Savannah (5) and Nicholas (2)

Win:

Constructive Playthings is giving away a $50 gift card so that you will have the opportunity to pick from their wide selection of educational and developmental toys.

To enter:

Visit the Constructive Playthings website and take a look around and then come back and leave a comment telling me a toy you think your child/children would enjoy other than the set of bristle blocks.

Additional entries: (Please leave a separate comment for each entry)

‘Like’ Constructive Playthings on Facebook
Follow @constructivemom on Twitter

This giveaway is open to U.S. and *Canadian residents. Giveaway will end Thursday, July 8 at 11:59pm.

Don’t forget you can automatically get 15% off of your complete Constructive Playthings order at any time by simply clicking on the Constructive Moms button in my sidebar!

*(Canadians – Constructive Playthings is just on the verge of launching in Canada. If you win, you will be one of the first people to shop on the website with your gift card when it launches later this month.)

Tweet This Post

Flower Hair Clip Tutorial

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:39:06 +0000

I’m sure you’ve seen the little crocheted baby hats with huge flowers on them, so cute. Since I love making baby hats I was on the look out for a way to inexpensively incorporate these huge flowers, different colors with different hats to match different outfits.

These inexpensive, easy to make flower hair clips fit the bill.

They are also great for the big girls to wear directly in their hair or use to spice up a head band.

Each flower clip cost me less than a dollar to make. They would be less expensive if you chose smaller flowers.Supplies needed:

a hot glue gun
alligator hair clips
scissors
silk flowers (I purchased mine at JoAnne’s when they had their spring flowers on clearance.)

1. Pull the flower off of the stem and then trim the little knobby part that sticks out of the back so that it is easy to remove the remaining flower parts.

2. Pull off the small plastic backing that is keeping the silk petals in place. (see it there above the flower?)

3. Remove all petals that are not firmly attached to the center and very front of the flower.The type of flower will determine how many of the petals you will remove.

4. Glue each layer of petals to the previous layer with the glue gun using the remainder of the ‘stem’ to line up each layer of petals.5. Trim any remaining stem so that it is flush with petals.

6. Glue clip to back of flower.I found this cheat to be helpful when I hot glued the clip onto the back so that the clip didn’t glue itself closed.

7. Enjoy!

For more tutorials including beaded bobby pins , a fancy ponytail, hand-dyed playsilks and more visit my tutorial page.

Tweet This Post

Tips for the end of pregnancy

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:55:55 +0000

Since I have less than a week left in this pregnancy I figured this post was appropriate. Please feel free to share your tips as well.

It seems that the end of pregnancy is always a struggle for me. I’ve been blessed in that I don’t have any of the common complications that many women experience at the end of pregnancy. I’m just generally uncomfortable, lacking in energy and impatient.

Here are some strategies that help me during the last few weeks of pregnancy:

Focus on others – Have a younger mom who needs encouragement over or make extra dessert and take it to your neighbors.
Take a hike. One of my favorite things to do at the end of pregnancy is to head out and hike with the family. Take a short hike at the park or around the neighborhood after dinner. Go for a longer more challenging hike on a Saturday. Being outside, away from the house, getting some exercise and watching the kids enjoy nature does wonders to relax and invigorate.
Focus on your kids – Do something fun with your kid. Take them to the park, swimming, let them play in the mud or make cookies. If you’re really tired, just lie on the couch and read aloud to them all. day. long.
Rest – You’ll need to be at your top for labor and birth and you’ll also appreciate that extra sleep once you have a small one in the house who may or may not realize that you enjoy sleeping during the dark hours.
Tackle a project – something that is fun and motivating for you, not just something that needs to be done. I enjoy rearranging furniture, planting flowers or decluttering.
Make a plan – Make special plans for the baby’s due date (or a day or two after it). It began when another mom of many and I were due about the same time. We made plans to go out to dinner on our due dates. These plans gave me something to look forward to and even made a small part of me hope that I would be able to make it. We spent her due date dinner in the hospital visiting over her newborn, but mine proceeded as planned.
Put some meals in the freezer.
Clean something.
Memorize and meditate on scripture that will be comforting during labor and birth.
Remember that no matter how young/old you are or your history this may be the last time that you have the blessing of a little life growing and moving inside you, enjoy it!

Having a plan and remembering to enjoy the end of pregnancy works for me. For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas visit We Are THAT Family.

Now just for fun and because it’s traditional for our family to guess about the baby’s stats. Leave a comment guessing the baby’s weight and length.

It’s odd this time knowing the gender and having a c-section scheduled. If anyone wants to guess that this baby is coming before our scheduled c-section on July 6th you’ll gain my undying affection. (I am having my typical 5 minute apart contractions. After having read some of my birth stories are you impressed? I’m not either.)

I’m hoping for tomorrow, it would be so convenient to have Mark off for the whole holiday weekend to help. Mark is hoping for July 4th just because that would be fun and 1/3 of our children have been born on a Sunday. My dad accuses me of being secretly rebellious.

Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work, but the seventh is a Sabbath to the Lord your God, in it thou shalt not do any work.

Here is the history of baby weights to help you out (or not). Our smallest baby was 6 lbs. 15oz. biggest was 9 lbs. 15 oz. (one 6 pounder, three in the 7 pound range, three in the 8 pound range and two 9 pounders).

Tweet This Post

Birth Story #3

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:38:37 +0000

Birth Story #1
Birth Story #2

Can you believe that I’m actually getting another birth story written?

For men and children readers:

I went into labor early on the morning of our fourth wedding anniversary and much later that day our baby was born, our first boy whom we named Matthew. Both baby and mother were fine.

If you are a child, please get your mom’s permission to read the rest of this post.

For other moms:

Our 3rd baby was due in May. After Kaitlin’s Pitocin induced birth, I assured Mark that I did not want to attempt another birth with Pitocin without an epidural. Since neither of us was comfortable with an epidural, I was prepared for a late baby!

The baby was due a couple of weeks before our anniversary and we laughed that if this baby was as late as Kaitlin it would be possible for it to be born on our anniversary. It was all a big joke, certainly we wouldn’t have another baby who was 2 weeks late, after all I’d been in labor with Kaitlin when the trauma of my mom’s heart attack stopped the process. Two weeks late had been just a fluke, right?

May came and went and two weeks after my due date there was still no baby. My OB was fine with me going another week as long as I came in for daily non-stress tests. We were fine with that.

The day before labor starts a 2 liter of soda is spilled on the floor. You would have thought it was the end of the world by my reaction. I cried for 30 minutes over that spilled soda. Mark knew that things were close and I KNEW that I’d be pregnant forever.

However contractions start at around 6 am the next morning. These are my usual, regular, 5 minute apart contractions. I get up and get breakfast for the children and Mark heads off to work. I’m still unconvinced that this baby is actually going to make an appearance and wander around tidying and cleaning until I’m experiencing a discernible 30-40 second peak with each contraction.

I don’t want to bother Mark at work, still convinced that this can’t be it, but I call Ivy (our doula), around 10am to let her know that ‘something’ was happening.

Ivy isn’t comfortable with me being so far from the hospital (we lived about 50 minutes away) having contractions as strong and close together as I was having them. I’m still not ready to head to the hospital, so I call Mark and we decide to go to Ivy’s house (about 5 minutes from the hospital) and hang out there for a while.

The car ride is horrible, making the contractions more intense and closer together. I decide that in the future we will time this l-o-n-g drive at an earlier stage of labor.
As soon as we get out of the car the contractions go back to normal. I’m only 3 cm dilated so we decide to walk. Ivy has a neighbor with an amazingly, steep driveway and for some reason she thinks that this is a good place for us to walk, in the heat, in the humidity, with my 9 1/2 month pregnant belly. Up and down, up and down, up and down. Very hot and I keep thinking of how tough the ride in the car was and that I have another 5 minutes of that torture before we are at the hospital.

We go into the house for a drink and I begin to shake and feel nauseous. I’ve not experienced these symptoms before transition during my last two labors and even though I know we’re not quite at that point, I am finally convinced that we will be having a baby in the near future.

We get in the car and head to the hospital about noon. Ivy wants us to walk some more before we check in. The baby is OP “sunny side up” and with each contraction she has me lean forward and rest my hands on my knees trying to get the baby to turn around so that labor and birth will be easier.

We walk in the park next to the hospital, and walk and walk. We are walking AWAY from the hospital. Far away, considering I am no longer able to walk through a contraction and I am having 60-90 second contractions (beginning to peak) about 3 minutes apart. I am hot and tired and wondering who was going to carry me back to the hospital if things got to that point.

I’m ready to check into the hospital and take a shower.

I’m thankful for the hospital’s air conditioning. We check in about 2. I am now 6 cm. The baby remains high and I am finally able to empathize with those who experience back labor (my first and only time).

As soon as I get the OK, I get into the shower. Our deal with Dr. G. is that I’m only monitored 15 minutes each hour. Other than that mandatory monitoring time I stay in the shower.

By 3pm I’m 8 cm and 100% effaced. “How much longer?” Contractions are one on top of another and extremely intense.

Back labor continues although the baby has partially turned and Ivy encourages me to spend time in the torturous position from hell, otherwise known as being on my hands and knees. I long for the shower, but try to spend as much time in that position as possible. The baby has turned a little by this time, but is now just facing one of my legs and still not facing my back in the best position for birth.

Here is where my memory gets a bit blurry. I’m thankful that during the most difficult parts of labor God allows your mind to find rest.

I stand in the shower putting the shower head on my stomach then back, stomach then back. I wish that there were two shower heads. I need two.

“How much longer?”

“Transition doesn’t last long, right?”

“I can’t do this.”

At 6pm I’m still 8cm. The nurse has mercy and allows me to try pushing to see what happens. With the next contraction I push and the water breaks, but pushing is all wrong. We wait some more.

There is a picture on the wall across from the hospital bed. A picture of a baby asleep under a quilt. I hate the picture. It’s mocking me. I will never have this baby. I wish that someone would move the picture.

By 7 pm, after being in hard transition for 4 hours and STILL being only 8 cm, The nurse has me try to push again while she tries to push the cervix back out of the way. It
doesn’t work.

I get back into the shower. Mark reminds me to relax. He tells me I’m doing a great job.

I cry.

We try squatting, standing, kneeling. I remain in hard, unrelenting labor and have not made any measurable progress in 4 hours.

Eventually we try pushing again with the nurse pushing the cervix back and this time it works, the baby’s head is past the cervix. The baby’s head crowns and is born with the next push. I did it. It’s over. I know from experience that as soon as that head is born the baby’s body just slides out, but everything still hurts. Did I misunderstand?

The room fills and Dr. G. starts giving orders. I don’t know what is happening. Mark is standing beside me, holding my hand.

He can see what I can not. Our child’s head has been born. The face is purple and still.

The bed is laid flat and a nurse climbs up next to me and begins pushing down on my fundus (the top of the uterus). Another nurse pushes one of my legs back, Ivy gets the other leg. Everyone is pushing HARD. Dr. G. tells me to push. I am pushing. I don’t think that I’ve stopped.

Dr. G.:

“Push, harder, push. Don’t stop.”

I can’t breathe.

“I’m going to break the collar bone.” He grunts with the effort, but the bone will not break.

“I need the OR prepped.”

Ivy, “No, she can do this. Please give her some more time.” To me, “You have to push as hard as you can and just keep pushing.”

“Push, push.”

Dr. G:

“Pull her legs back farther.”

“More fundal pressure.”

“I need that OR, NOW.”

Everyone is pushing or pulling.

“I’m going to have to break both collar bones.”

“How are we coming with the OR?”

Dr. G. apologizes before he cuts the episotomy.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Pain, everywhere and then it’s over, 15 minutes after the head was born the rest of our baby was delivered.

Our baby is whisked to the warmer.

“It’s a boy.”

Our first son, born at 8:05pm.

“Is he OK?” They always say, ‘yes’ and they give us that hollow reassurance now.

Dr. G. is still attending to me and there is a crowd around the warmer.

We wait.

I’m exhausted and rest. Mark is still holding my hand.

Then we hear what we’ve been waiting for, a baby begins to cry. Mark collapses on the bed beside me and joins his son, crying, as the relief that our child lives floods over him.

They eventually bring our baby over for us to see and he looks as if he’s been in a fight. His face is one huge bruise.

They place him on my belly, “umph”, he is much heavier than I anticipated. “‘I bet that baby is at least 8 pounds.”

He was 9 pounds 15 ounces, although Dr. G. says that I can tell everyone 10 pounds because he is certain that Matthew lost at least an ounce while he was stuck.

Once again God was merciful to us. After testing it was determined that Matthew had not suffered any brain damage from lack of oxygen. Dr. G. said that both his arms looked good, a statement that Mark and I would not fully understand until 8 years later when our 9th child suffered a brachial plexus palsy injury (Erb’s Palsy). And despite Dr. G’s efforts he is our first baby who does not have a broken collar bone.

Matthew had a bit of jaundice, but other than that he was just fine.

I was in rough shape after the birth and going home was hard as Mark had only one day off and I had all little kids (2 1/2 years, 16 months and a newborn) and no helpers, but that too passed and life settled down to ‘normal’ as we adjusted to our wonderfully blessed life with three small children.

Birth Story #1
Birth Story #2

Tweet This Post