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Even though we haven’t come to the end of our story, I wanted to give you a glimpse of where our family is now. My hope is to encourage those of you who are still in the homeschooling, parenting little ones, trenches.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. ~Galatians 6:9
and
(He) is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. ~Ephesians 3:20-21
and we have been amazed at the kindness and generosity that God has shown to our family. Sometimes I have to pinch myself!
Currently 6 of our children are teenagers and our ‘baby’ just turned 4. (Amber 19, Kaitlin 18, Matthew 17, Alyssa 16, Carter 14, Sadie 13, Savannah 11, Colby 10, Nicholas 8, Bella 6, Valor 4.) These years of parenting teens and young adults are my favorite yet. There is so much joy and satisfaction at seeing the amazing young adults that our children are becoming and they’re just. so. much. fun!
It’s like the icing on the cake, the reward for all the diapers, vomit and sleepless nights. It really is exciting to see what God has for their future.
Our three oldest kids are full time college students. Yes, that means that we have successfully graduated three children from our homeschool and no, we never did end up using a co-op (we’re weird like that). Be encouraged, by God’s grace you can successfully educate your children at home all the way through high school. I believe that God has even equipped you to equip your children with those higher level math and science classes. (Two of our college kids have chosen to major in math and science fields).
All three are are attending different colleges/universities. You know, because going to the same school would be boring. Amber (19) is a sophomore majoring in computer programming at Pellessippi State Community College. Kaitlin (18) is a Freshman majoring in music and running cross country for King University in Bristol, Tennessee. Matthew (17) is an academic sophomore majoring in Chemical Engineering at the University of Tennessee.
So far, all of our kids have received full college scholarships. (Full disclosure: One of our children’s scholarship money falls $93 short per semester, but that is close enough, right?) We made mistakes and we certainly didn’t do everything right for our kids to maximize their scholarship money (I’m making sure that we pass along what we’ve learned so far to others so that they can do it better than we did.) but, bottom line; God is the one who provides and He has provided abundantly for our kids. (One is even being paid to go to school.)
I am currently homeschooling seven children plus we have one preschooler. The majority of my days are still spent the same way I’ve spent them for the last 19 or so years. Staying home with the kids, homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry (lots and lots and lots of laundry). To these responsibilities has been added the joy of parenting those wonderful college students. (Don’t dread those teenage years, by God’s grace they can be the best yet.)
We are still involved with Safe Families, but our role is different. Our family still loves the ministry of Safe Families for Children, but with the changes our family has seen in the last year (big kids being much busier) we have hosted fewer children than we have in the past. However, we’ve been blessed to have more involvement with at-risk moms.
Safe Families has partnered with Great Starts (a drug rehab facility for pregnant and parenting women) to seek to minister to these women by building relationships with them. We have a time of weekly fellowship, food and Bible study together. Additionally, we seek to offer friendship in as many ways as we can. Often it’s as simple as taking someone shopping or babysitting for them. Several of the women attend church weekly with those of us who participate in the Bible study/fellowship time.
We aren’t able to fix all the difficulties that these women are facing however, we can point them to Jesus, who is able to redeem any story and we are able to stand alongside them and let them know that they are not alone.
With the cooler temperatures of fall comes cross country season. Because of our priorities for our family, this is the only outside-of-the-house activity in which our kids participate.
It’s a busy season, but we aren’t heading different directions. We are all heading in the same direction. We’re just heading in the same direction all. the. time.
The children love running, they love the competition and the love the time with friends.
We love the fellowship of like-minded families, the hard work and discipline that our children are learning, spending extensive amounts of time outdoors and the fact that our kids are gaining a life-long enjoyment of running.
Even our college kids get into the act.
That is a quick snapshot of where our family is today.
My temptation is to try to catch this blog up on everything that has happened; homeschooling lessons learned, teenage drivers, a ruptured achilles tendon (not related to cross country), courtship experiences, a camping trip to California, plus lots more. It’s a beautiful story that I would love to tell, but not today.
Today I wanted to share about where we are right now and the goodness of God and the pleasant pastures where we are currently abiding.
We are rejoicing in His mercy and eagerly awaiting what the future has in store for all of us.
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Blogging, Teens and Church: An Update is a post from: Raising Olives
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It comes to mind because I still have a lot to say.
Friends ask about it.
Family who live a distance from us say that they miss seeing pictures.
I get emails from blog readers saying that you’re praying for our family (thank you!!!) or asking how we’re doing.
Mark and I have talked (and talked and talked) about what the future of this blog should be. We do want it to continue, but what that looks like? We still aren’t sure.
It is all a balancing act. But I’m pretty certain that all of life is a balancing act.
At any rate, for right now I’m sitting down writing a blog post with the goal of sharing some pictures and giving an update on our life since last May.
The year has been delightfully wonderful and full for our family.
In case you haven’t noticed, our kids are growing up.
Nicholas was 10 months old when I started blogging.
He’s now 7.
Our oldest, Amber, is 18 and we now have five teenagers and two children with a semester of college under their belts!
You may remember that we got chickens a year ago in February. The boys made two chicken tractors for them and we’ve been enjoying the experience of owning chickens and having fresh eggs.
From designing and building the tractors to learning how to butcher and prepare chickens for the freezer, it’s been a great experience and now they’re talking about a milk goat. (Um, no thanks!)
Throughout the spring and summer of 2014 we made a concerted effort to spend time outdoors, at local parks, enjoying ballgames, hiking and swimming.
Of course we had our annual family campout in September. This was our largest group yet with upwards of 120 people coming up for at least part of the weekend.
In August, cross country season started for our kids.
The cross country program in Knoxville is wonderful….and the races are BIG. Each elementary race has 800-900 kids and the middle school races are about the same size.Because of the crowds our team makes a habit of taking a picnic and we let the kids play frisbee or tag or just hang out after the race while we all eat and the crowds thin out.
Some of our kid’s best friends are part of the cross country team and we appreciate this time to spend together.
Each level (elementary, middle and high school) has a weekly race, so cross country season is busy, but fun spending several nights a week outdoors picnicking with friends.
The little kids get lots of sunshine, time romping in the grass and they love teasing the teenagers and playing with other younger siblings.
This year during cross country season we hosted this precious girl.
In God’s good kindness, Gracie was born just days after our first miscarried baby was due so there was sorrow and healing in getting to hold this baby while remembering ours. Gracie stayed with us for about three months.
We were blessed with a good relationship with Gracie’s mom which has continued even until now.
Since August we’ve hosted 4 infants and 5 preschoolers with Safe Families. We especially enjoyed having twin girls who arrived at our home on their 5th day of life.
We are loving having teenagers in the house and something that has snuck up on me is that when you have teenagers, your house is also full of other people’s teenagers, not just yours. We absolutely love it!!
We love watching our kids make grown-up decisions, manage their time and choose friends by evaluating which boys and girls encourage them to be more like Christ and then make an effort to cultivate those relationships.
The younger kids are enjoying having lots of big kids around. Their life is quite different than what our big kids experienced when they were all little and we’re seeing God shape them into the unique people that He has ordained them to be. It’s lovely to see the teens take time out to include the younger ones.
In God’s good providence we are working together with about 8 other families to plant a Presbyterian church here in Knoxville. Many of us have been at an amazing reformed Baptist church for the past 3 years. We have loved and been loved in that church. It was a place of healing, love and acceptance for the several families who were in need of exactly that.
When the time came for us to say good-bye in order to start this baby church we went out from that lovely, amazing and Christ-like congregation with their public blessing and pronouncement of love and care for us. It has been a beautiful picture of what the family of Christ should look like, even when there is a necessity to part ways.
The church plant has been a special blessing to our family. We were particularly concerned about our teenagers because they are the only teens in the church plant, but just this morning Amber (18) and I were talking and she mentioned, “Mom, I just love our church!” I agree. God is good.
There is so much more to tell; kids going on mission trips and cruises, getting drivers licenses, homeschooling, college classes, etc, etc. BUT I will stop right here because if I don’t I will never get this post up.
God has given us a beautiful, full life here in Tennessee.
Our days are packed with things that life in a vibrant, Christian community bring. It’s a beautiful, full, often messy, but always lovely life and we are trying to soak up every moment of it.
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Summer Sale and Giveaway is a post from: Raising Olives
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What is Lilla Rose? Lilla Rose is a hair jewelry company whose main product is the one piece flexi-clip. Other products include headbands, bobby pins, hair sticks and more. Continue reading to find out how to win your choice of a flexi.
The flexi comes in seven different sizes making it perfect for adults………
…and little girls.
The flexi transforms a boring hairstyle into something beautiful in no extra time and is so comfortable that you won’t remember you have it in.
If you are really interested in Lilla Rose you might want to consider becoming a Consultant. This would give you the opportunity to sell something that you love and can recommend. It’s also a terrifc way to get Lilla Rose products at discounted prices.
Place any order through my Lilla Rose site and you will be automatically entered to win a flexi clip of your choice size and style. For help choosing the right size for you check out the sizing video. The giveaway will end next week. Remember that the sale and free shipping only lasts two days.
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Wordless: Good Mommy is a post from: Raising Olives
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That happens quite often.
I may be just be deceiving myself.
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Bella’s Play Kitchen from an Old Dresser is a post from: Raising Olives
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Not only is our play kitchen much sturdier than anything we could have purchased, it was less expensive and it has a super-fun light that comes on whenever the ‘oven’ door is opened.
Now, nearly a year later it is still played with daily by both our boys and girls and is usually the first thing that visiting children check out.
Our starting point was an old bedside table that we had in our garage.
We took the bed-side table apart, sanded it down, filled in the holes from the knobs (because we were going to replace the hardware), added a board for the ‘backsplash’ area of the play kitchen,
cut out a circle in the top in which to place our dog-bowl-sink and painted the dresser and backsplash with “oops paint” that we found steeply discounted at Lowe’s.
We painted the interior of the entire dresser with black paint and I found a grill from an old oven at a thrift store and cut it down to fit into the area that was previously the drawer of the bedside table, but would now be the oven.
Just for fun, we found a motion-sensor night light to put into the oven so that the light comes on whenever the oven door opens or the kids put something into the oven.
I then took the face of the drawer off of the back part of the drawer (we did not use the back part of the drawer for this project) and attached the drawer front directly to the dresser with hinges to make an oven door that would drop down just like a real oven.
I also added a magnetic closer thing-y to keep the oven door from dropping open.
I thought I was going to need to find something to prevent the ‘oven’ from opening too far, but the drawer front is so thick that it runs into the face of the bedside table and so does not open too far, but depending on your particular piece of furniture, that may be something that you will need to add.
We spray painted four old CDs with black spray paint
and affixed them to the top of the side table with gorilla glue for our stove eyes.
Then I put on lots and lots of coats of polyurethane because I knew this piece was going to get lots of pounding and other heavy use.
We used wooden knobs spray painted black for the stove and the same handles spray painted white for the sink.
The faucet is a letter “J” that we found a Joanne’s and spray painted silver.
We had lots of fun converting other thrift store finds into parts of Bella’s kitchen.
A little bit of spray paint can make a big difference to a lot of things.
Another big hit was that we added three stick-on hooks on each side of the play kitchen on which the kids can hang pots, pans, utensils and even aprons.
I wasn’t sure how long the hooks would last with lots of use by little ones, but it has been nearly a year and there are still two hooks on each side.
In the cabinet of the play kitchen we placed a basket. This provides an ideal place to store all of that play food and the accessories for the kitchen.
Bella’s play kitchen remains one of the favorite toys in our house. The bedside table was fairly tall, so our kitchen is also tall, making it a good size for even 6-7 year old kids.
There are so many possibilities when creating a play kitchen. It has been one of my favorite DIY projects.
We still plan on adding a small shelf to the backsplash area above the sink…someday.
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Ambleside Homeschooling Q & A: Math and Science, Start Time and College is a post from: Raising Olives
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Thank you for all of the questions about Homeschooling a Large Family with Ambleside. In this post I’m going to answer some of the ‘easy’ questions. Eventually, I will get out some posts that answer some of the questions that require something more in-depth.
I noticed you group your children, with 3 working through Ambleside year four and 2 working through Ambleside year one. Do you simply skip certain Ambleside years with some kids so as to keep them together? Are you planning to do Ambleside instead of Sonlight now with your up and coming little crowd?
I do not have a long-term plan to skip Ambleside years. As you know, the years do not correspond to grades, so they will be suitable for a wide age range of kids.
Additionally, my group of three children who are working in Ambleside Year 4 are really all very close to the same academic level. They are within 2 1/1 years of each other in age, so reading through the same books is appropriate for them.
As they move into high school, math and science may look different for each of them, but maybe not. Two of our older kids are the same academic year in high school even though they are different ages (one will graduate when he’s 16). So that may also happen with these three.
I am planning on using Ambleside with my up and coming little ones. We switched to Ambleside because two of our middle children are not primarily auditory learners and I personally think that Sonlight is geared more toward auditory learning (most educational systems are). That said, our children are continuing to read Sonlight books during their free reading time and I intend to cover the War Between the States with the Sonlight materials, as I was extremely pleased with how balanced and fair the selection of books was for that time period.
I would love to hear what math and science you recommend?
One thing that I have learned over our homeschooling years is that different curricula works for different kids and different families at different times. So I will not give you a recommendation, but I will tell you what we are currently using.
First, our children love math and science. Even our children who are not naturally inclined toward math and science now enjoy those subjects and I do think these curricula choices are a factor. Also, the combination of these two programs has allowed our children to work quickly (remember that several of them finished the school year months early) and easily through these books with very little parental help. I’m not sure if this is because they are good independent learners or if it’s because both of these programs are designed for independent learning or perhaps a combination, but that is a benefit to our family.
Science – Apologia – We have used this for 5-6 years and love it. It’s biblical, rigorous and a good fit for our family.
Math – Life of Fred – We’ve used this for 4-5 years and love it also. If you want lots of drill and repetition then this is not the program for you. Life of Fred uses all word problems and teaches the children how to think deeply and apply mathematics. It does not require a lot of rote memorization.
We do not use Life of Fred with our elementary kids. Our children generally begin Life of Fred somewhere in middle school with the fractions book and then our kids have continued on with Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry and Trigonometry.
Before Life of Fred, our math program is much less formal. We simply require our children to memorize their math facts and become proficient in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
What time do you begin “Basket Time” in order to finish around lunchtime?
The goal is to start our school day by 7:30 or 8. Our Morning Basket usually takes about an hour and a half, so we are usually finished by 9:30 or 10.
Ideally I prefer to have my main teaching responsibilities done by lunch time. And although, it’s not uncommon for the middle kids to be narrating to me in the late afternoon, I am generally finished with all the group teaching (morning basket and reading aloud to the middle kids) and the little ones (7 and 6 year old) by lunch time.
Do you let the littlest play outside unsupervised?
No.
We have a terrific deck that is completely fenced and is very visible from both of our main living areas and Bella (3) and Valor (1) are allowed to play out on the deck during school time. We do allow Bella to play in the back yard with Colby (7) and Nicholas (6), but one of the older kids needs to be outside to supervise if Valor goes out.
How do you handle lunch prep?
This varies by day. The 4 oldest children get their own lunch. Sometimes I’ll make lunch for the youngest 7, sometimes one of the older children will volunteer to do it and sometimes one of the youngest 7 will get lunch for everyone.
I used to use this menu plan for breakfast and lunch. Now, we are more fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants. It’s easier to be that way with older children.
My question is, do you plan for your children to go to college?
The short answer is, it depends.
Currently two of our three children in high school have plans to attend college, one believes that God has called her to get an RN degree and one is interested in chemical engineering.
That said, we have no desire for our children to go to college because that’s what ‘everyone’ does, but we do want our children to be prepared for the life that God has called them and for some of them this will require a college.
I’m overwhelmed, how do you keep up with everything, especially all the levels of math and grammar?
The actual question was about when our kids start working independently and I hope to address this in regard to Ambleside in a separate post, but this question was specifically about grammar and math.
I know that this advice is not popular, but I’ll give it anyway. Our children do not begin formal instruction in math and grammar until they are older, about age 10 or so depending on the child. They do daily copy work and/or dictation and they have a lot of exposure to numbers, adding subtracting, fractions, etc. through daily life, but we delay formal instruction in both of these subjects until a bit later and so far this has worked well for us and for our kids.
Laura asked, What do you do for those who don’t get it (school work) all done?
The underlying issue with this question is diligence. Perhaps these posts on teaching diligence will help.
Hannah said, “I’ve just heard its (homeschooling) pricey so I wasn’t sure I could afford it.”
Ambleside Online is a free homeschooling plan. They also provide links so that you can obtain most of the books that they use for free or very low cost.
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Not Me: Mohawks and Socks is a post from: Raising Olives
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Last week, when cutting Valor’s (1) hair, I did not forget which side it is supposed to part and so give him a haircut that is better suited to a mohawk than to any other hairstyle.
Of course he never has an attitude to go with it.
No way, not him.
When the seasons changed here in Knoxville I promptly switched out the children’s seasonal clothes. I did not forget to switch Savannah’s (9) clothing and so, obviously, she does not come out day after day wearing winter sweaters with summer shorts.
We did not dedicate an entire section of our yard for Colby (7) to ‘make things’. He has not filled that section with scrap lumber, saws, hammers, nails, etc. and used those supplies to make a ‘house’,
a table and chairs.
That part of our yard does not resemble a junk yard.
Bella (3) has not taken to carrying a big plastic, ride-on horse around the house with her doll, and of course we did not find her snuggling with it during her nap time….in Amber’s (17) bed.
Remember when Colby slept with a hamburger? Please tell me your children sleep with weird things too, or perhaps that they do not.
This is not what Bella looked like during church yesterday. When I asked her why she didn’t wear her Sunday sandals she did not answer, “Betause I like my tennis-sues better.”
No way, not my child. I always check to make sure our children are suitably dressed for Sunday worship, always.
What did your children not do this week?
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I want to share about how we’re homeschooling this year because we are at our peak of homeschooling with 9 school aged children (ages 6-17), plus two preschoolers and it seems that we have a good, balanced system going that is working well for everyone academically as well as allowing our family to continue to host children with Safe Families and be active participants in our amazing, wonderful, encouraging, church (which has been an incredible blessing to our family over the past couple of years).
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted about homeschooling, so I’ll share with you some things we do everyday that aren’t necessarily part of “school”.
Today I’m going to be posting what we cover each week and the overall flow of our school day. Then over the next weeks I will add in some details, so please feel free to ask questions so I’ll know what to cover in subsequent posts.
Our family has pulled homeschooling ideas from Ambleside Online for years. We’ve always enjoyed their book selections and I have always appreciated how they have incorporated Charlotte Mason’s ideas into a practical plan for homeschooling today. I have, however, never been able to figure out how to use Ambleside with our clan, until now.
This is what is working for us.
I continue to start my day by spending some time with our preschoolers, Bella (3) and Valor (1). We do something simple and fun like making cards for Grammy, blowing bubbles out on the deck or drawing on the windows with window markers. This gives my little ones some focused mommy time before I get busy with the other children.
‘Morning Basket’ starts right after this and includes all of the children from 17 year old Amber down to 1 year old Valor. Our morning basket is a literal basket filled with all the books that we use during morning basket time.
Each day we sing three songs. One hymn that we are currently memorizing, one review hymn and one review Psalm.
During this time period we read and discuss a devotional/theological book (we books aimed at our oldest children), currently The Holiness of God.
We also read a prayer from Valley of Vision.
During this time period we recite two poems, one that we are currently memorizing and one review poem.
We also read one new poem a day.
Once a week we read a poem and the notes on that poem from The Classic Hundred Poems.
We do only one of these topics each day. Geography and timeline are only for the younger kids, so if we are doing one of those subjects we delay this segment until we are finished with all of the ‘big kid only’ subjects.
At this point in our morning basket the kids ages 7 and younger get a break and go outside to play.
We take time for this twice a week. One day we read from one of Shakespeare’s plays and the other day we read from Plutarch’s Lives (volume 2 here).
We’ve only been doing regular Plutarch and Shakespeare reading for about a year, but this is one of our favorite parts of the school day.
Our children really developed a love of Shakespeare when we began collecting the Arkangel series of audio Shakespeare performances several years ago. These recordings are unabridged and very well done. Our children ask for them for Christmas and birthday presents, so we are slowly building our collection.
This is a subject that may disappear for our older kids after we finish the current book we’re reading, but we are enjoying “Science Matters” and it’s a good review for those who are working through Apologia’s high school books and a good introduction for the younger kids.
At this point our older kids are dismissed for the day and the 1, 3, 6, and 7 year old children join us again.
The older kids work independently on math, science, history, Greek, etc. Mark is in charge of these subjects and he does a fantastic job keeping everyone on pace and understanding the material. As a matter of fact, all of our older kids finished with their school work a couple of months early this year (some of them finishing in December and February). That NEVER happened when I was supervising their work. I’m hoping that he will write a post sometime about how he manages to be the primary homeschooling parent of 4 high school students and still keeps up with work, house projects and social responsibilities.
This Bible time is focused on our younger children (currently 1-12 years).
During this time we read the Bible and the children narrate back what we have read. We are currently using Greenleaf’s Guide Old Testament History. We used this when our older kids were small and enjoyed it then and it was time to go over the material again with the younger ones.
We also work on Bible memorization during this time period.
Read one ‘little kid’ poem. We’re currently reading from “When We Were Very Young“.
I know that this may seem like a lot of work, but it goes quickly and we usually get through all/most of this by 10:00 or 10:30 in the morning.
At this point the 12, 10 and 9 year old are dismissed to work on their independent subjects; Ambleside reading assignments in science, history, literature,etc. and copy work and math.
During this time I currently just have the 6 and 7 year old boys.
The boys alternately read to me out of the First McGuffey Reader and work on handwriting/copywork.
I’m doing Ambleside Year 1 with the boys, so I read the assignments aloud and then they narrate them back to me. Because of what we do in our Morning Basket time, we omit the Ambleside Bible and Poetry assignments.
At this point our 7 and under crowd are finished with their school day and are strongly encouraged to play outdoors.
The last part of my day is spent listening to the middle kids narrate their reading assignments and checking their math and copy work.
Our 12, 10 and 9 year old are following the plan for Ambleside Year 4. Our 13 year old is following Ambleside Year 7 in addition to working through Omnibus with Mark and the older children.
I prefer to have one of the books be for “written narration” so each of these children have regular writing practice. I also like to use Institute for Excellence in Writing for additional writing practice.
Ideally, we are finished with all of this by lunch time, it doesn’t always happen, but that is the goal. Then the children have free time in the afternoon to build forts and bridges, make cookies, tend the chickens, research new projects or just climb trees .
Do you have questions about our day? Questions about how we cover specific subjects?
Ambleside Homeschooling and a Large Family: Q & A
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Pregnancy #13: Quiet is a post from: Raising Olives
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I would have been due in November.
It began quietly with a barely-there pregnancy test. And it took three more days before we were really convinced that this child existed.
It continued quietly with twice-daily heparin injections and a feeling of contented gratitude.
One of the things I learned from our last pregnancy was that this was an eternal gift that was already given. It could not be taken away.
Whatever the outcome of this pregnancy, we were already parents to our thirteenth child. A quiet child with his own unique personality. So I enjoyed each day.
For the first time I truly understood that a miscarriage wasn’t a waste, it was simply a gift that’s shorter only in it’s temporal duration. And I worried less.
Quietly my doctor tracked my progesterone and HCG levels and we waited, thankful that everything was progressing well.
We had an ultrasound. It was too early to see a heartbeat, but everything looked good.
Then a few weeks later and without any symptoms, my HCG levels dropped and we prayed, begging for life, for a beating heart. A few more days and those HCG levels dropped again. (HCG should never drop in a healthy pregnancy. Numbers may rise slowing or not rise at all and it still be a healthy pregnancy, but dropping numbers are not fine.)
My doctor said that a continuous drop over a 5-day period was pretty definitive of a miscarriage.
We grieved for a week and then we went in for our scheduled ultrasound ‘knowing’ that we would see what we had seen once before, a ‘non-viable’ pregnancy.
Instead we cried, great wracking sobs of relief and surprise when we saw a tiny, growing baby with a lovely, strong heartbeat (148/min).
We rejoiced in a miracle. The miracle of life and a beating heart.
And then at another ultrasound a week later, we grieved as we watched that small person float silently with a quiet heart.
Quietly, with no fanfare, our precious baby had entered into eternal glory.
As our OB said, “All miracles on this side of heaven are temporary.”
Miscarriage is hard. This time is no less hard than last, but it is different. A friend, who has walked this path, explained it this way, “Each grief is different because each child is different. We love them differently; not more, not less, differently and so we deal with their loss differently.”
This process is hard and the grief is hard, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We’re dealing with eternal souls and THEY are worth much more than I’ve been asked to give.
I’ve had two pregnancies and said goodbye to two babies within the past 4 months. This has been a time of learning and growing, a time that has really pushed me to trust and rest and be content with His plan, because this was not my plan.
My plan was to be holding a newborn in November. My plan was being pregnant on what would have been the due date for our last child.
I wanted that, oh how I wanted that!
I am still grieving that loss, but His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts and so I am learning to believe and to trust the God that I love. I’ve been learning that my whole life, but it’s a life-long lesson and so I know that I have more learning to go.
I understand the thought, “I would rather not be pregnant than to miscarry again (and perhaps again).” But my take is different. I’m thankful for these children, both unique and different from the other one, how can I wish that they did not exist. How can I think that my physical and/or emotional comfort is more important than the lives of those two children? Joy and sorrow, weeping and dancing it’s still intermingled. Thankful for the gift, heartbroken over the loss.
I will always think of this 13th pregnancy, our 13th child as quiet and I will be forever grateful for the privilege of being his mother.
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That reason is the BONUSES (or freebies), plus ebooks for pennies on the dollar make this particular bundle a spectacular value.
Seriously, last year I purchased the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle and even though I didn’t read all of the ebooks, our family got way more than our money’s worth simply with the freebies! (Several items we’re still using more than a year later.)
So not only do you get all these ebooks for a steal, you also get over $200 worth of FREEBIES.
**If you’re like me and ordered last year’s bundle have no fears about duplicate books, only about 5 of the books (out of nearly 80) were in past bundles, but they have all new FREEBIES!
But it’s not just the freebies and bonus offers, there are also the books which, if you are an ebook person, you will LOVE (and even if you’re not, I suspect that you’ll find a bunch of these to be quite helpful, encouraging and inspiring).
Here’s what you need to know about the sale:
When? 8 a.m. EST Wednesday, April 23 until 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, April 28
What? 78 eBooks, 2 eCourses, 2 audio files, and 2 printable packs PLUS over $200 worth of bonus products (freebies) you’ll really use!
Where? Purchase the bundle here.
How much? Well now, that’s the best part. The entire package is worth nearly $900, and it’s selling for less than $30. Sweet deal, right?
What’s in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle? ($698 value!)
Homemaking
Food
Motherhood
Marriage
Faith
Faith {For Kids}
Financial Stewardship
Health & Wellness
Holidays & Special Events
Homeschooling
Pregnancy & Babies
Self-Care
Working from Home & Blogging
These deals are worth over six times the price of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. So you’re up on the deal right away!
Remember, this bundle is available for 6 days only, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, April 23 to 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Monday, April 28th.
Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post. Read the fine print about this bundle and read the answers to frequently asked questions about the bundle. Purchasing this bundle through my links will benefit our family, thank you.
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Happy Easter is a post from: Raising Olives
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Happy Easter from our family to yours.
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When it Rains… God is still Good is a post from: Raising Olives
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Miscarriage – After finding out the baby’s heart was no longer beating on Friday, December 6th, I actually miscarried the next Monday, but things did not go smoothly. By Tuesday morning I was unable to stand up without passing out so Mark got me in to my OB.
My recovery was slow (two days after I saw my OB I was still unable to sit propped up in bed for longer than half an hour), but Mark and the children took great care of the house and little ones and I was able to get the rest I needed.
This was my first miscarriage and I struggled with the emotional part. “How can I grieve when I have been given so much?” “How can I be unhappy with the life that God ordained for our child?” “How can I be sad when God blessed us with this baby for 11 weeks?”
There is a difference between grieving and ingratitude and I was getting the two mixed up. I can grieve the death of my child, of course I can. Jesus grieved the death of Lazarus. However, I know that in the midst of my grief I serve a good and loving God. Feeling sadness does not mean that I am complaining against God’s goodness and mercy.
In the midst of our grief we rejoice that this was His perfect plan for our baby, we are grateful for friends who help to bear our burdens and we have confidence that our child is rejoicing in the very presence of God. Beauty for ashes, indeed.
Whooping Cough – Back before Thanksgiving I had taken two of the older children to the doctor because I thought they might have whooping cough. He dismissed my concern offhand.
As I was recovering from the miscarriage, our two younger children began coughing. Eventually it became very obvious that our children did indeed have whooping cough.
This is not a video of our children, but this video shows what both Bella (3) and Valor (1) did about every hour, 24 hours a day for about 4-6 weeks.
Most of the children got whooping cough. Our two youngest had it most severely and several had just a mild case.
Blood clotting disorder – On the day that we found out our baby was no longer alive, my OB said he thought I might have a blood clotting disorder that had caused the miscarriage.
At the time I thought he was jumping the gun. I have carried 11 pregnancies to term without a loss and I am currently 41 years old. A single miscarriage at this point, can’t be cause for concern, right? He did mention that some problems can occur even after multiple healthy pregnancies, so we sent about a gallon of my blood off to be tested.
In the midst of our whooping cough days, I got the results.
I have two genetic mutations that are known to cause blood clotting problems (homogenous MTHFR A1298C and 4g/4g PAI 1, for those who are interested). The bottom line is that I am on a daily baby aspirin now and always and if/when I get pregnant I will have twice daily heparin injections.
Do you see God’s amazing goodness in this? I’ve had eleven uneventful pregnancies, I’m nearing the end of my childbearing years AND with only one pregnancy loss we have a plan to possibly prevent it happening again.
My OB wasn’t as jumpy as I thought. Our baby’s tiny heart beat for two weeks even though it never got up into a normal range, and during those two weeks with a beating heart it showed no growth. This clued my wonderful OB off to the possibility that this was a problem with me and not with our wee one. I continue to be grateful for an obstetrician who values life, not just my life and the life of any baby I may be carrying, but he also values the lives of future children God may gift to our family.
My Grandma – During all of this my grandmother was living with us. Our family loved her time here with us. She, however, was bound and determined that she wanted to live in her own home, so at the new year she moved back home.
My Mom – Several weeks after my Grandmother moved home we got a call that my mom was in the hospital. The short story is that for a week everyone (doctors, family, etc.) thought that my mom was in the later stages of ovarian cancer. We were all relieved to learn that this was not the case.
My mom did need major surgery and the 8 youngest children and I were able to spend a week up in Kingsport, Tennessee cooking and cleaning for my mom and dad while she recovered. A special bonus to this was that we enjoyed 10 lovely inches of snow up there, while here in Knoxville they had just a little.
Last week my mom was once again taken to the hospital she and remains there fighting infection and with fluid in her lungs (again). We would love prayers for peace and healing for my mother and for wisdom for her doctors.
Alyson’s death – When Mark and I were newlyweds and as we had our first several children, we regularly babysat for Alan and Kathleen. We stayed at their home and held down the fort when they went to the hospital to have some of their younger children, and spent many happy days ‘parenting’ those kids in a large and growing family.
While my mom was in the hospital the first time, Alyson (23), Alan and Kathleen’s oldest child, was killed in a car accident.
God was definitely growing me and the one thing I kept saying as I grieved for Kathleen and Alan was, “God is good”.
He is good when our children are healthy and when they are diagnosed with cancer. God is good when we are blessed with a new life and He continues to be good when our children die. The circumstances in which we find ourselves do not change the truth of who God is.
God’s goodness has been so crystal clear to me in the last weeks. As we walked through the miscarriage and the whooping cough, as we watched our friends deal with childhood cancer and the sudden death of a child, we saw God’s goodness and gentleness. He does not leave us or forsake us. We bear one another’s burdens and that bearing does indeed make the load lighter. It is not easy, but He remains good.
Tabitha – Tabitha continues to do well through both radiation and chemo. If you want to stay up to date on Tabitha (our friend’s 7 year old daughter who is battling cancer) you can follow her journey on her Caring Bridge site. Her parents’ updates also echo the theme of God’s goodness.
Safe Families – After a long break from hosting, we are thankful to be well enough to have foster children in our home again. We are looking forward to hosting a teen and her newborn baby one to two days a week starting this week.
Chickens – We currently have 30 chicks in a brooder in our garage. Our ability to have chickens is a huge answer to a prayer that our children have prayed for years.
But our God is good and sometimes pretty amazing and Lord willing this summer we will have fresh eggs (as well as some fresh chicken dinners).
All of the kids continue to grow quickly and we are loving and learning more about homeschooling and parenting everyday.
So there is an update on some of what has been happening here and through it all, God has been graciously and mercifully good.
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Lots more “Not Me” posts with pictures of our kids when they were much smaller.
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When it Rains… God is still Good is a post from: Raising Olives
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Pregnancy #12: Update is a post from: Raising Olives
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The Lord gives and The Lord takes away, blessed be the name of The Lord.
We found out Friday that our twelfth child, no longer had a beating heart. We rejoice that he/she is now in the presence of God, how amazingly blessed we truly are. Although we are sad for ourselves, we rejoice in His love, mercy and goodness in granting us 11 weeks with this precious life.
But this I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. ~Lamentations 3:21-23
We are grieving, but there is joy in the midst of our grief. Dancing and mourning intermingled. It feels a bit schizophrenic actually.
This pregnancy I had strong aversions and cravings.
I had a huge aversion to bacon. The smell of bacon, the taste of bacon, even thinking about bacon made me nauseous. Also, I did not want anything sweet, not even my all time favorite the chocolate chip peppermint milkshake from Chick-fil-A. This was a bit of a tragedy as this is the only time of year it is offered and I knew I was missing out on some serious awesomeness!
On the other hand I craved peanut ginger sauce constantly. I’m not actually sure that I’d ever had peanut ginger sauce before this pregnancy, but it was the only thing that sounded good and I wanted it constantly. Nearly every breakfast was a chicken breast smothered in peanut ginger sauce. I dipped carrot sticks in peanut ginger sauce and the only reason I didn’t smother my eggs in peanut ginger sauce was because my kids said that was just way too strange.
I wanted to thank you for all of your prayers, words of encouragement, Facebook notes, and encouraging stories. I’m amazed at how helpful and encouraging it is when the body of Christ bears each other’s burdens. There is a lightening of the load, an encouragement, and an amazing joy and peace in seeing the goodness of God work itself out through His body here on earth.
We’ve spent the past several days enjoying our children and spending lots of time together celebrating, making gingerbread graham cracker houses, reading Christmas books, singing songs, snuggling and watching “The Grinch that Stole Christmas”.
In some ways, I see such beauty in this whole process. I’m glad that this pregnancy is not just over, but that there is a time of physical and emotional cleansing and healing.
I want that. I need that.
God is good and I’m thankful for loving friends, healing tears, sweet children (every time I start to cry Nick says, “Awww, mommy needs some snuggles.”) and God’s grace.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~Jeremiah 29:11
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Announcing Baby #12 is a post from: Raising Olives
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I was planning to share the baby’s due date, post pictures of a 10 week baby with a lovely, strong heart beat and talk a little about this pregnancy and promise another update next week, but instead I’m asking you to pray for this precious life.
Four weeks ago an ultrasound revealed a gestational sack measuring 5 weeks, no fetal pole was visible and we figured we had just caught the pregnancy earlier than we expected.
Two weeks later another ultrasound showed a fetal pole measuring 5 weeks, 6 days and a faint heart beat. Great news, but I was puzzled as to how my dates could be that far off.
A week later, the ultrasound revealed no change, no growth in the baby. He/she still measured at 5 weeks, 6 days and the heart rate remained low (88 beats/minute). My OB said that with this information, one would not expect a viable pregnancy.
We are praying for a miracle. We are praying that this baby will begin to grow normally, that her heart rate will speed up into the normal range and that God would continue to bless her with life.
I am so very grateful that we were blessed to see this little one’s heart beating and that I have been given the privilege to carry this eternal soul for whatever length of time.
The last ultrasound was Wednesday and I still feel pregnant. I continue to experience morning sickness throughout the day and am beyond tired, which I suppose is all good news.
In other ‘God-answers-prayer’ good news, Tabitha, the 7 year old whom the doctors initially diagnosed with stage 4, untreatable neuroblastoma (cancer), is at home, celebrating the holidays with her family!
The initial diagnosis was incorrect. She has stage 4 kidney cancer (Whilm’s tumor), but it is treatable with a much better prognosis. Her family has now set up a Caring Bridge page if you’d like to keep up with her journey. They also created a Facebook page to share updates.
And to tie up loose ends, the winner of the Lilla Rose giveaway is Valerie. Congratulations!
There is still time to order Lilla Rose for Christmas. Suggested shipping dates are as follows:
December 13: UPS ground
December17: UPS 2nd day air
December 20: UPS next day air
If you have any thoughts or suggestions about this pregnancy, or even a story of a positive outcome, I’d love to hear it. Thanks!
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Lilla Rose Sale and Giveaway is a post from: Raising Olives
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In addition if you order four clips from my Lilla Rose site, I will send you a fifth clip of equal or lesser value free! (To claim your free clip place an order for any 6 clips on my website, then email me with your full name and the flexi-clip size and style that you ordered as your free clip, I will then reimburse you for the price of that clip.)
These comfortable hair clips make great gifts for moms, aunts, coaches or teachers. They also make fantastic stocking stuffers. Coming in seven sizes and an abundance of different styles, the one-piece flexi-clip is perfect for any hair type . Shop from the comfort of your own home and don’t miss the black Friday savings.
If you place any order through my Lilla Rose site during the black friday sale you will be automatically entered to win one free flexi of your choice!
You can find a sizing video here that will help you to choose the right size for you.Visit this post to learn more about the Lilla Rose flexi.
Sale ends November 30 at 12 a.m. PST.
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Thirty-One Party is a post from: Raising Olives
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Join me on Facebook tonight at 8 (EST) for a Thirty-One party. Of course, you needn’t wait if you just want to shop now.
Thirty-One offers cute bags, practical and lovely totes and loads of organizing essentials.
Tonight you can win door prizes, get gift ideas (and make progress on your Christmas list) and visit all from the comfort of your own home. You may use this link to RSVP.
This month’s special is that you can purchase a medium utility tote for only $7 with every $35 worth of product you order. Here is an example of what you can get using the special.
Hope to ‘see’ some of you all this evening on Facebook!
Use this link if you prefer to shop now.
If you’d like updates on Tabitha, feel free to follow my Facebook page. To ensure you see my posts choose “show in newsfeed” or “get notifications” after you click ‘like’.
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These times of glaring sin always bring me to my knees. I’m humbled and disappointed, but always thankful. Thankful that God loves me enough to bring my sin into focus and to help me to struggle to become more like Him.
He gave everything for me.
He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant (that’s a slave’s slave) …He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ~Philippians 2:6-8
I’m not my own, I’ve been bought with a price and yet I want things my way.
I want to get up early and have some quiet time to myself. I don’t want to get up early to help someone else. I want to set our own schedule not have it set by therapists and appointments.
I’m petty and I’m trite and I want things my way.
I want to forget that I’m a servant, His servant.
I want to demand of Him healthy children who love Him, have godly marriages and a long life and I fear that He won’t give me what I want, breaking His commands in the process (“Do not worry about tomorrow” ~Matthew 6:34)
I forget that I’m living this life for Him and not for myself and so I worry rather than trust.
And early yesterday morning it hit me. I remembered what I’ve known.
My response should be gratitude. I should be grateful for what I have, not wanting what I don’t have.
Over the past two days we’ve prayed for and wept with some good friends who discovered that their 7 year old daughter has neuroblastic cancer.
I see them living one of my worst nightmares and yet giving glory to God in the midst of it.
Tabitha is rather uncomfortable right now. The spleen is very large. The size of her spleen is affecting her digestive and respiratory systems. Her back is hurting. Please pray not only for healing, but that God would enable her to deal with the pain she is in.
…. For now, please just pray fervently for our little Tabitha and that we would glorify God in this affliction. ~Debbie, Tabby’s mother
How can it be?
It’s because God is still good. He is still worthy of praise. He is the one who gave the gift of Tabitha in the first place. He never had to give that beautiful gift, but He did. Who are we to dictate what all that gift entails?
Tabitha was created for His honor and glory and she is a living breathing example of that honor and glory.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God that I have a houseful of people whom I have the privilege of loving everyday in hundreds of minute ways. Praise God that He’s teaching me that it’s more important to sit and talk with my children than it is to have a clean floor, company for dinner, write a blog post or even do a reading lesson. Praise God that our children have the opportunity to build this relationship with their great-grandmother. Praise God that He is not surprised by Tabitha’s diagnosis and that ultimately nothing can harm her.
1. Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own,[1] but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death,[2] to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.[3] He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.[5] He also preserves me in such a way[6] that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head;[7] indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.[8] Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life[9] and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.[10]
[1] I Cor. 6:19, 20 [2] Rom. 14:7-9. [3] I Cor. 3:23; Tit. 2:14. [4] I Pet. 1:18, 19; I John 1:7; 2:2. [5] John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14, 15; I John 3:8. [6] John 6:39, 40; 10:27-30; II Thess. 3:3; I Pet. 1:5. [7] Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18. [8] Rom. 8:28. [9] Rom. 8:15, 16; II Cor. 1:21, 22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13, 14. [10] Rom. 8:14.
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Psalm 121
1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
If you’d like future updates on Tabitha, feel free to follow my Facebook page. To ensure you see my posts choose “show in newsfeed” or “get notifications” after you click ‘like’.
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When Grandma moved in last Tuesday, the nurse mentioned that one of the difficult things to manage for someone with limited mobility is a stomach virus because they may have difficulty getting to the facilities in a timely manner.
Now, certainly every mom-of-many knows the little bit of panic that rises when you find out that your houseful of little people (who are not yet mature enough to understand the importance of making it to the facilities) are exposed to a stomach virus, or is that just me???
So when, two of our children started vomiting on Saturday afternoon, I had that feeling, only multiplied. By midnight Amber, Kaitlin, Matthew, Carter, Sadie, Savannah, Colby, Nicholas and Isabella had joined the puke club. Mark kindly waited until Sunday morning.
Laughing was all I could manage as child after child succumbed.
As Sunday morning dawned, Grandma, Alyssa (13), Valor (1) and I were the only ones standing (figuratively speaking) and our family room was full of recumbent, pale figures. Our God has a sense of humor, doesn’t He?
We’re thankful that Grandma didn’t get it, that it was a short duration and that all of that laundry is now behind us.
Thank you for your prayers, our adjustment is going very well, so far. Now if we could only get the in-home health company, insurance company, and Grandma’s primary doctor to all get on the same page…..
On a completely different note, I want to invite you to a Thirty-One Facebook party I’m hosting.
Of course you don’t have to wait until the party to shop and their special for the month of November is that you can get the fabulous medium utility tote for only $7 with every $35 you spend.
For several years we’ve hosted large gatherings in our home and every once in a while someone would come to those gatherings with ‘one of those’ totes. The totes stand up by themselves and out of that single tote ladies would pull their casserole dish and other food for the meal, clothing changes for their children and even their diaper bag.
The totes were large, practical, sturdy, and came in beautiful prints and with Christmas looming closer, I thought about how practical and lovely they would be to give as Christmas gifts. I know that I’d love one of these for Christmas. (hint, hint, honey)
Thirty-One totes are ideal for taking meals to others, for transporting things when you head out for a day in the mountains or at the pool and fantastic for toting school and library books. I also knew that my girls would enjoy having a pretty tote to keep all their homeschool books contained and out of the way in their bedroom, but still easily available to grab and bring out to the dining room for daytime studies.
I’m in love with the Plum Awesome Blossom pattern and I am hoping to get these three pieces for myself!
I think the organizing utility tote (upper right) would be perfect to use as a diaper bag, the Littles Carry-All Caddy (left) will be perfect for organizing makeup, etc. in the master bathroom and then of course the medium utility tote is all around practical for only $7!
Thirty-One also offers many other storage solutions, including organizing and storing the clothing for all 5 boys neatly in one closet. (We did not use Thirty-One totes for this, but we’re hoping to use them when we do our girl’s closet.)
Check out this pantry before and after:
Thirty-One offers a range of totes, coolers, bags, purses and other organizational helps.
I will be hosting a Thirty-One Facebook party this Thursday, November 21st from 8-10pm EST. So if you’re like me and haven’t started Christmas shopping yet (did I just admit that publicly?) or if you still’t the kids to bed and snuggle up with a cup of something warm and be prepared for a fun evening of door prizes, shopping and visiting.
Thank you very much for blessing our family by shopping at this link anytime between now and November 23rd.
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We were delighted to get to spend a week with the 4 siblings whom we are hoping to adopt. We also get to keep the youngest of the group (2 year old) several days each week.
Our whole family was blessed to attend the Worship of God Conference sponsored by the NCFIC. The teaching was fantastic, the fellowship was encouraging and the time for our family to be together was refreshing.
Mark and I both came home encouraged and motivated to do a much better job of training our children and ourselves to serve and worship the most holy God. We had gotten lazy and complacent, but we saw that there is so much more that we should be doing and areas where we’d slacked off.
If you ever have the opportunity to attend an NCFIC conference, we highly recommend it. Our children are already talking about attending next year’s conference, Church & Family.
We’ve also been busy finishing up some home improvements.
We removed the carpet from our stairs
and replaced it with hardwood.
The children complain that they’re not as fun to slide down (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), but they sure do look nicer.
Then most recently, we’ve been preparing for my grandmother (Grammy) to move in.
Our sewing room (don’t be jealous that we had a whole room devoted to sewing) became a bedroom/sewing room combo,
the downstairs hall, bedroom and bath got a new coat of paint and fresh white trim and the upstairs (main level) bedroom was emptied out and painted and is now ready for Grammy and her things.
Inspired by this post (How Five Boys Share One Bedroom) at My Blessed Home and because we also have 5 boys in one bedroom, we got rid of the dressers, stopped trying to get the boys to hang all of their clothes and went to this system.
Each boy has a bin for shirts and a bin for pants. Our two big boys and our two little boys each share a bin for shoes and a bin for underthings and pajamas. For more details visit Michelle’s post, How Five Boys Share One Bedroom.
In the midst of all this we managed to carve out time to celebrate some birthdays,
(There’s a good reason that we call August our birthday season!)
We also squeezed in a few visits to Dollywood.
So next week our family of 13 will welcome Grammy and become a family of 14 and a new chapter will begin. We’re looking forward to the blessing.
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Catching Up and Getting Ready is a post from: Raising Olives
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Fast is a post from: Raising Olives
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These girls are fast.
They are part of the fastest elementary cross country team in the state of Tennessee.
Sadie (10) and Savannah (8) both set personal records (6.45 and 7.06/mile respectively) Saturday helping their team to win the Elementary division of the Tennessee State Cross Country Championships. (Sadie placed 22nd and Savannah 44th, individually.)
Our kids (middle school and elementary) were able to run cross country as part of a homeschool team this year (we’ve actually done it for several years now).
Cross country is a fun, practical sport for our family and we’ve been blessed to be able to participate in a great program.
Honorable mention goes to Alyssa (13) who qualified individually to the middle school Championships and then came close to her personal record (15.06/2 miles) at the Championship meet.
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Fast is a post from: Raising Olives
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Stories of String Bandaids is a post from: Raising Olives
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Mark was tucking children into bed while I was nursing Valor (1), when Nick (5) started to cry. Then Mark said, “Kimberly” in the tone of voice that makes my adrenaline start to race.
It was a head wound and they’re notorious for bleeding, so I relaxed just a little, maybe it wouldn’t require a trip to the ER at 7:30 Sunday night.
It did.
It is times like these that I’m thankful that we now live close to a children’s hospital.
When Kaitlin was 6 she fell and hit her head on a wooden fence post.
Mark’s perspective is interesting. Just a minute after talking with me on the phone and knowing we were all home, he pulled into the driveway to see that our van was gone and the front door of the house was wide open. As he got out of the car he noticed a trail of blood which he followed down the driveway, through the garage and into the house. It’s hard to imagine what thoughts were going through his head, but our neighbor, who was sitting with the other kids, soon set him straight.
Kaitlin was brave, but the process of getting those stitches in her forehead was painful. They didn’t use any pain killer because they never did get the bleeding under control until it was stitched up, (which was about 15 minutes after we walked in. We’ve never had such fast service.)
When Sadie got her stitches at age 3, they numbed the area by giving her multiple shots of pain killer all in and around the wound. I remember her lying there, still and quiet as can be with big tears running down her cheeks as she repeated, “Mommy, they’re hurting me.” Even one of the nurses was crying.
Which is why I’m thankful for easy access to a children’s hospital where they use a numbing cream and don’t say the word “stitches”. (They use the term “string Band-Aids”.)
So as we sat in the ER waiting room, Mark and I chatted while Nicholas was transfixed by “The Lion King” playing on the television. In the course of our conversation I said the word, “stitches” and suddenly Nick looked at me, all ears.
“String Bandaids, I mean, string Bandaids”, I corrected myself.
“Oh”, he replied calmly as he turned back to the movie, “I thought you said stitches.”
When we got back to the room, Nick didn’t flinch as they cleaned out his cut and then put 10 stitches into his head.
He was a champ, not crying or complaining at all.
As we drove home, Mark and I were complimenting him on how brave he had been when he calmly said,
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t have to have stitches because if I had to have stitches then I might have cried.”
For the curious, you may see a picture of Nick’s boo boo here. It’s a doozy and several of the medical personnel mentioned that it was the worst they’d seen in a long time. For perspective, it’s 2 1/2 inches long.
For those of you with weak stomachs, you’re welcome.
Here’s the kicker, Nick was kneeling and leaning out of a standard height bed to get a blanket, lost his balance and fell hitting his head on a low table on the way down (by the time we returned home, the kids had moved that table far away from the bed ).
I’m always amazed at God’s blessing of protection!
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Our Family is Growing: 4 Moms is a post from: Raising Olives
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A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps. ~Proverbs 16:19
For the past several months our family has been preparing to adopt. During this time the Lord called us to participate in foster care through Safe Families for Children . (You may read about that calling and our experience with Safe Families here.)
Then a little over a month ago, things changed and we thought that the adoption door was closed.
My grandmother (92) is finally at the point where she should not be living on her own. After a couple of falls over the past year, she has been relegated to a wheel chair in a rehab facility for the past few months.
My grandmother is an amazing, godly women and is not your typical 90 something. Much of her uniqueness can be summed up by saying that she loves people.
She simply thrives on the busyness and the full-of-peopleness of our home.
Our family is currently in a place that is well-suited to providing for her care because we have several family members who are capable of helping out with her mobility and personal care. Additionally our decisions over the past years to be deliberately available for people mean that we don’t have a lifestyle of commitments that would make it impossible or difficult to be home with her.
So next month, my grandma will be moving to Knoxville to live with us. The current plan is to see how things go for two months and then to make a more permanent decision.
The kids are looking forward to more stories about when “Grammy” was a little girl (she’s a fabulous and funny story teller), more games of acey-deucey , and more read alouds. I’m looking forward to more time with my grandmother, a godly example of prayer, joy and contentment right in my own home and the amazing blessing of watching our children benefit from multiple generations under one roof.
But in the midst of this joy, there was a little part of me grieving the adoption that would probably never be.
And then, this week, the adoption door creaked open.
We’re not ready to share details, but suffice it to say that on Monday God brought an adoptable, sibling group of four into our lives!
The details are amazing and it will be miraculous if the children are actually placed in our home, but we are currently being considered as a forever family for this sibling group.
We appreciate your prayers for wisdom, for these children who desperately need the love of the One who will never leave nor forsake and above all that the name of Christ would be exalted.
The other 4 Moms are answering your questions today:
Life in a Shoe
The Common Room
Smockity Frocks
The winner of the Worship of God Conference giveaway is Dana, congratulations!
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Our Family is Growing: 4 Moms is a post from: Raising Olives
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Hickory Horned Devil and Rolling Down a Cliff is a post from: Raising Olives
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He is a Hickory Horned Devil and according to the park ranger they spoke with, this will be the first logged sighting of one of these beauties in the area. (That was pretty cool for all the homeschoolers present.)
He evidently squeezes tightly with his feet as he crawls along your hand, but many of the girls took turns holding him. One day he will turn into a Regal Moth. Have you seen the size of those things?
Alyssa is one of our insect loving children.
Our rule is that if a critter, other than a mosquito, is outside, we don’t harm it. However, if it’s inside it will be promptly exterminated.
If Alyssa spots any misguided creature that may have inadvertently wandered inside, whether it be a moth (which is probably eating our flour), a fly or one of those horrible cave crickets which insist on infesting our basement, she enacts her capture and release program. She just can’t handle any of those creatures being killed.
In other news, our campsite bordered a steep drop off down into a gully with a creek running at the bottom.
While it was steep, it wasn’t worrisome during the daylight because the kids could navigate up and down. However, once it was dark…
The first night as we were sitting around the campfire a group of girls, 8-12ish, decided to put their camp chairs at the edge of the drop off. Their chairs were placed on that level-ish ground in the foreground of the picture below.
See that drop off?
Isabella (3) decided to go visit her sisters who were part of the group and, as she was climbing up onto the chair, tipped it over and tumbled out backwards.
She had just left my side so when I heard crying coming from such a long way away, I didn’t think it could possibly be her.
However, it was. She tumbled about halfway down the ‘cliff’ and while she was quite frightened, she was unhurt. We’re thankful for God’s protection.
That was enough excitement to last me the whole trip and thankfully my kids agreed.
Psst! Don’t forget to enter our current giveaway for your family to attend (or receive all the audio from) the Worship of God Conference.
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Hickory Horned Devil and Rolling Down a Cliff is a post from: Raising Olives
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Go to the Worship of God Conference for FREE {or Win the Audio Recordings} is a post from: Raising Olives
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For years our family has desired to attend a NCFIC (National Center for Family Integrated Churches) Conference. We have many friends who have attended and they come home talking about the excellent speakers, the encouragement and knowledge they gained and the wonderful, amazing times of fellowship. They say they hate going to bed each night because they don’t want to miss a second of time with like-minded believers from around the country.
However, a conference has never worked into our family’s budget. But this year our family is GOING (can you hear my kids shouting? They are SO excited!) and, thanks to the NCFIC, we’re going to give your family the opportunity to join us.
One family, from the Raising Olives readership, will recieve FREE registration and lodging for the Worship of God Conference in Asheville, NC October 31- November 2! If you’re unable to attend the conference {which would be sad because we’d love to meet you}, then you may chose to receive the full audio from the conference instead (retail value @ $250).
Excited and ready to go? Scroll down to the bottom of this post to find out how to enter.
Want to know more?
The Worship of God Conference will seek to examine and experience the worship of God and to say with king David, “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells” (Psalm 26:8). The starting point will be to establish that God must be worshipped in the way He has designed, not the way man desires.
Speakers include:
Topics include:
Our family has been part of family-integrated churches since we became a family. It has been an amazing blessing to worship God side-by-side with our children each and every Sunday.
No nursery, no children’s church, just our family, including all our children, gathered to participate in the corporate worship of God. It’s a beautiful pattern that we see set before us in the Scriptures.
In a world that seems intent on tearing families apart, it’s refreshing to be part of a church which self-consiously seeks to strengthen families and encourage parents in their roles of bringing their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And the families that you find in these churches?
Amazing!
The Mission of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches:
One winner will receive free registration and lodging for herself and her family (worth over $500) to attend the NCFIC’s Worship of God Conference in Asheville, NC. Winner may choose instead to receive The Worship of God conference audio album when it becomes available after the conference.
To enter: (please leave a separate comment for each entry as I will chose a winner from the comments on this post)
For fun entry:
A random winner will be chosen from the comments on this post and announced on October 8th.
NCFIC is giving our family free registration and lodging and providing the prizes for this giveaway. All opinions are my own.
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Go to the Worship of God Conference for FREE {or Win the Audio Recordings} is a post from: Raising Olives
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Our family is eating better thanks to GNOWFGLINS.
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Unexpected Journey: Part 5 is a post from: Raising Olives
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Continued…
From the beginning of this journey of thinking about adoption the question that Mark and I kept asking ourselves was “If not us, then who?”
If we aren’t willing to open our home to the orphan can we expect our unbelieving neighbors to do it?
What about those in Christ’s church who don’t want to be inconvenienced with more than 1.7 children, are they the ones who will sacrifice for the little ones who need someone?
God had made this so clear to us. Despite my misgivings, He had called us to care for these two children and with that call, He would give us everything that we needed to accomplish this task.
As it turned out, our time with those two foster kids (they stayed with us for the month of May) was, apart from the lice fiasco, wonderfully blessed. Those two little ones were sweet and affectionate. They even sat through our 1 1/2 hour family integrated worship service each Sunday like little pros (Interestingly, all 4 of the foster kids that we’ve had so far have done better than I ever expected sitting with our family during church services).
They opened up to Amber (16) and me right away
and by the end of the week they were chummy with everyone (except the little girl was very shy of my husband, Mark).
But by the end of their visit she ran to give him hugs when he got home from work just like the rest of them.
They fit in beautifully with our family and we had lots of jumping on the trampoline,
watching (participating in) track meets,
wading in the creek,
and just hanging out together.
Not all of our placements have been this easy (we’ve had 4 children since May), but we know that this is where God has called our family at this time and are grateful for His guidance and blessing to our family.
Our heart is still for adoption, but for this day and this time, we are grateful for the children, mothers, fathers and families that God has brought into our life and for the opportunity to serve Him by serving them.
“Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” ~Mark 9:37
We’ve been thankful for the Safe Families organization for providing the structure and fitting us with the needs so that our family has been able to provide homes for children whose families are in crisis.
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Unexpected Journey: Part 5 is a post from: Raising Olives
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Our family is eating better thanks to GNOWFGLINS.
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