Just Stuff

Well, I guess not every post can be all thought provoking or hilariously funny... I do want to try to post relatively often, so I'll just update what's going on with stuff in life.

The older kids are out of school right now. I have them for another week :) I really do enjoy days with them home better than I do days when they are gone to school. We get to be on our own schedule rather than having to follow someone else's schedule. When school is in session, they are not allowed to watch tv (or have any other electronics time) except on the weekends, but while they are out for breaks (except summer... it's too long) I let them have lots more time. They have been loving it!! Their brains may be complete mush by the end of the week!

We had my 2 year old's birthday party over the holiday and it was a blast! My in-laws rented out a party room in the bowling alley where they live and all the kids had tons of fun. I think my kids enjoyed that more than they did the Christmas activities!

I am in the middle of re-organizing my house and pretty much everything about the logistics of our household. There will be a new meal plan, a new budget plan, new chores for the kids, and new house-cleaning plan... this WILL all be done by the end of the week! I am determined :-)

I am about half-way through with the home organization part and am ready to be done!! It's tiring, but I am getting rid of tons of stuff and I like that feeling :-) There were a couple problem areas in our home we found solutions for and I am excited!

The first was our board games and toys in the boys bedroom... I bought a cabinet and have organized all that... yay!

The next is the area in our kitchen when you first walk in the door... There 7 of us... SEVEN!! And there is NO closet, nowhere to conveniently store coats, backpacks, shoes, purses, etc. So I spent my Christmas money on a wardrobe to put there. I can't wait for it to get here!!! I found it on ebay with free shipping :-) It may take a while to get here, though. I did take some before pics and I plan to post before and after pictures when it gets here and I get everything in it. Can't wait!!!

Okay, that's it for now. I hope and pray you all have a blessed and wonderful New Year!!

Cleaning

So, I'm a terrible housekeeper. I can admit it... my house tends to be messy all the time. I can blame it on the fact that I have a large family in a small house, but the truth is it could be a lot better if I were better at cleaning.

Why am I a terrible housekeeper? I've been thinking through it...

Laziness? Sometimes. Sometimes the house is messier than it should be because when I finally sit down and I hear my two year old doing something that is messing up the house, I just flat out don't want to get up and do anything about it. But, generally, I am "busy"... just not busy cleaning... so I wouldn't say it's laziness most of the time.

Ignorance? Partly. I spent my preschool and elementary years living with my mom who was beyond terrible as a housekeeper. I won't elaborate right now, as that is not what this post is about. Then my stepmother taught me some things like washing dishes and mopping, but I didn't really learn much about home organization/planning/dealing with clutter.

Attitude? Yes. Not a bad attitude, but an "all or nothing" mentality. I do not want to clean a little bit at a time. If I cannot accomplish cleaning the entire house in one day, I do not want to clean anything. Having a day like this is rarely possible with our schedule and the kids.

Circumstances? Partly. We live in a 1400 sq. foot, 3 bedroom house and the floorplan is less than ideal for keeping things organized. And there are a lot of us... and several of us that create mess, but aren't yet old enough to completely clean up after ourselves. But, like I say, there are things that could be done to fix a lot of the issues we have.

So, what am I gonna do about it? A neat house is important... it's important to my husband (and that's enough reason right there... I love him so!!)... it's important to my sanity (it drives me crazy to not be able to find something)... it's important to my children's lives (I want them to learn better than I did)... so, it's important. Because it's important I need to fix it.

I de-clutter all the time... it seems anyway. I am not a hoarder, but it still seems there is always too much stuff. That is partly because my house is small for my family size, but it is also because I don't have things set up the way they need to be in order to make it easier for everyone to find where things go.

So, I plan to spend the next week getting things set up differently. Prayerfully this will help my entire family make keeping things neat more of a priority.

And I will also be praying my attitude about this changes :-) I will have to tell myself that it's okay to clean only one room in the house... it's really not an "all or nothing" thing... even if my brain says it is :-)

I will keep you updated and will try to post pictures :-)

Funnies

I'm always running into funny saying about having lots of kids on t-shirts and mugs and stuff and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites :-) They can be found on cafepress.com :-)

Whodathunkit?

I've just recently reconnected with several people I went to high school with on facebook. I know some people think it's terrible that people communicate via the internet these days rather than in person, but there are several people I've been able to keep up with on facebook that I probably never would have spoken to again otherwise.... so I like it :-)

It got me thinking about who I was and what I was like back then. Wow. So much has changed and so much has happened. I am a totally and completely different person now. There were some fun times and I have some good memories, but I wouldn't go back to high school for anything... no way, no how. Not because of the people I was around back then... they were great! I went to high school with an extremely diverse, extremely fun group of people :-) And the fact that it was a boarding school made things even more interesting (I went to MSMS). The main reason I wouldn't go back is because I was just a messed up kid back then. Fun, happy, and bubbly on the outside, but secretly in turmoil and unhappy on the inside...

But, no more! I'm still fun, happy, and bubbly on the outside... but now my insides match :-) I truly love my life!

And there is one reason and one reason only this is true... and I used to be at a place where I wouldn't be this bold about it... and I'd be afraid people would think I was weird or a fanatic... and so I'd just be all sweet and say that I'm happy cause I've got a great husband or great kids (and I do)... and then I'd just smile and nod and leave it at that... but the one reason I am content and happy and have joy is....

I came face to face with Jesus Christ my Savior, realized my sinfulness, repented, and accepted His forgiveness and His love. God is SO GOOD!

My life isn't perfect, never has been... but it is good... and no matter what my future may hold, no matter what circumstances may come my way... God is in me and is my source of joy!

I'd venture to say there isn't one person who knew me in high school who'd have guessed I'd be a stay at home mom of five kids one day... but I am :-) And I'm good with that :-) Cause I'm a totally different person... and I like the person I am now better!

The road from there to here has been long and full of curves and hills and even crashes, and I'm happy to share all that with anyone who is interested. I'm still on the journey and excited to see where God takes me next :-)

Thank you Jesus!!!

Theological Differences: Finding the Balance between Passion and Humility

I started out writing this post and it just got all muddled and there were really two topics I was discussing, so I broke it up into two posts. I will publish the other one soon...

I actually find this topic pretty confusing at times and you should know up front that I write things down in order to think them through, so by reading this you are reading my mind... scary, huh? :-)

As believers, we are to be passionate for Christ. And Scripture commands us to be humble and show humility. So, as far as living our lives... we are to be both passionate and humble.. for sure!

But in this post I want to talk about being passionate vs. humble when discussing a doctrine or Scripture. Are passion and humility mutually exclusive? Is it possible to be both at the same time? It seems as soon as someone gets passionate about a topic, humility goes out the window... and when someone shows humility on a topic, they no longer seem passionate.

Passion (copied from Merriam Webster online dictionary):
1 often capitalized a : the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death b : an oratorio based on a gospel narrative of the Passion
2 obsolete : suffering
3 : the state or capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces
4 a (1) : emotion (2) plural : the emotions as distinguished from reason b : intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction c : an outbreak of anger
5 a : ardent affection : love b : a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept c : sexual desire d : an object of desire or deep interest

Humility (copied from Merriam Webster online dictionary):
1 : not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2 : reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission
3 a : ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious b : not costly or luxurious

So, for the purpose of this post... by passion I mean definition 4b "intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction" and by humble I mean definition 1 "not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive".

[This is where I cut out a huge chunk of this post to make the second post. In it I discuss what Jesus did in terms of passion and humility.]

So, can we be intense, but not assertive, can we have overmastering conviction without arrogance?

I've been in several conversations about topics that elicit passion in a lot of people. Some of those topics include....

Spanking
Calvinism
Birth Control
Alcohol
Tattoos

And there are more... but there are a few examples. So, if I get into a discussion about one of these topics with a fellow believer who disagrees with me, can I be passionate and humble at the same time? I do have opinions on all of these topics, and I'm more passionate about some of them than others, but can I communicate that passion and still remain humble?

My short answer is yes. We can remain passionate and be humble at the same time... the key is what we are passionate about. If I am entering a discussion on any issue passionate about Christ himself and passionate about the well-being and heart of the person I'm speaking to, then yes I can be humble about whatever topic we're discussing. And, yes, I think my opinion on these topics is "right". If I didn't think I were right, I'd change my view, or not have a view... but to get passionate about the topic itself is to misplace my priorities.

When Jesus humbled himself on the cross for us, it was because He was passionate in His love for us. I believe this is the ultimate picture of passion and humility working together.

What does this look like in practical terms? How does this play out in the real world?

I don't know all the answers, but here are a few thoughts....

--If a "view" becomes more important than your relationship with Christ, keep your mouth shut.

--If you know God is leading you to share something, and you aren't out of fear, share it.

--If you are just trying to be "right" and/or change somebody's mind, keep your mouth shut.

--If someone asks you about you're view, share it... be honest, and be respectful.

--If someone asks your view on a topic you don't know much about, be honest that you don't know much about it.

I used the pronoun "you" in that list, but I'm speaking to myself.

I feel like I've been as clear as mud, but hopefully I've made a little bit of sense :-)

Christmas Gifts

I get asked quite often what we do for Christmas gifts, so I thought I'd share...

For our kids, we give them each three gifts plus their stocking. Someone told me they did this a long time ago to represent the gold, frankincense and myrrh given to Jesus. We liked the idea especially the aspect of putting a limit on how much the kids get. No offense to anyone intended, but I think it's ridiculous the number of people who run around getting themselves into debt in order to get their children everything they've even mentioned they might want. I understand the pull to want to give our kids everything they want, but even if I had the money to do it, I just don't think it's good for them. My opinion in case you wanted it :-)

Here's what we did this year:
---For my 6 year old girl: a big huge stuffed animal (the only thing she asked for.. I found one for $20.. it's bigger than her!!), a tote full of arts and crafts supplies, and a caboodle full of play make-up.
---For my 4 year old girl: Snow White the movie, a dress up outfit, and a set of Snow white and the 7 dwarfs figurines
---For my 9 year old boy: A new game for his gameboy, a sword (he has SO many, but loves them!), and an xbox game he and his dad can play together (really cheap off amazon b/c we have an old xbox and they don't sell games for it in the store anymore)
---For my 2 year old boy: His bday is in Dec and he's getting a rocking horse for his bday present. His Christmas presents are a remote control fire truck (a used hand me down... he won't know!), a Mr. Potato Head, and a set of balls (he loves balls!)
---For my 5 month old: For the sake of his siblings we're wrapping up some baby toys we've had in storage.

Their stockings usually have one food item, one practical thing like socks, and then a toy or two. This year the older ones are getting some of those silly bandz that are so crazy popular right now.

I say that we don't spend much, but it's all relative... I mean, I was talking to a mom who was excited because she limited herself to $150 per kid... so, compared to her I don't spend much. But if I look at it from a worldview perspective, the fact that I spent $40 on my 6 year old means that I've spent several month's salary for some people in other countries.

I don't think it's wrong to spend more than I do, especially if you have more to spend without going into debt, but I do think self control is important in all of this :-)

As for other people, we do $15 per niece/nephew. And for the most part the other adults we would give gifts to, we have portraits made and give those out.

For the people at Brian's work and the SS teachers at church, we bake cookies.

For the teachers at the school, we do a gift card.

We generally don't exchange gifts with each other (hubby and I).

So, there it is... that's what we do :-)

I pray anyone reading this has a blessed Christmas!!

Laughter

I do believe laughter is good for the soul! And there has been tons and tons of laughter in my home over the years... kids are hilarious!! :-) So, I'm going to try to record some of the funny stories on here so I can remember them....

When my oldest was younger he would come to me in the middle of the night because he heard a noise or something I would talk to him a minute and then tell him to go back to bed and pray about it. He always said it helped and it always seemed to work. Well... one night he came into my room at night and said "mom, I wet the bed" and I said... "It'll be okay sweetheart, just go back to bed and pray about it and everything will be okay."... In my sleepy stupor I wasn't really paying attention to what he said! Well, a few minutes later he came back in and said "mom, I went back to bed and prayed, but my bed is still wet!!" LOL! The faith of a child :-) Needless to say I tried to pay better attention when he came to me in the night after that! :-)

Another one I thought of recently was when my first child was just a baby. He was my first and I was CLUELESS!! Totally clueless... Anyway, one night in the middle of the night I had nursed him and then changed his diaper. I picked him up to put him in his bed and felt something HUGE under his sleeper... I was thinking.. OH NO!! He has a tumor or something! When I set him down and unsnapped his sleeper... it was the rubber nose sucker thing... I had accidentally snapped it up in his outfit when I changed him :-)

And just so my husband doesn't feel left out... With our first child, he went with me to my ultrasound and after it was over we went and waited in an exam room for the doc to come talk to us... well, my hubby is a snooper :) He was opening all the cabinets and snooping around. When the doc came in he asked "what is that metal thing in there?? It looks like a fancy can opener!!" HAHAHAHA!!! :-) If you're a man and you're reading this, ask your wife what I'm talking about if you don't know :-)

Okay just a few funnies from my life... there are sure to be more :-)

12 Years and Counting!!

As of today I have been married to the man of my dreams and my best friend for 12 years! I love him more today than I ever have, and I just know that it will only get better and better.

It hasn't always been easy (that's an understatement), but marriage really and truly has been the best time of my life. I still cannot believe that God has blessed me with such a caring, loving, and Godly man. He is truly amazing!!

The thing about the backside... my husband's backside has always been something I enjoy looking at :-) And it's a running joke that at every church we go to, I at some point publicly announce my adoration of his backside... ha! And, yes, it's okay to talk about that in church... ever read Song of Solomon? It's way more risque than that! Anyway, the funniest time was when I did it when his parents were visiting church with us... they were like "wha???? did she really just say that???" :-) I still laugh thinking about it!

It's overall been a great 12 years! We've had tons of fun and have grown together as Christians and as a couple. I pray we are continually drawn closer together and closer to God.

Love my man!! :-)

Assuming and Investing

It's interesting to me (and pretty annoying) how people (including myself) tend to lump people into groups and make assumptions about them based on their choices. And a lot of times it makes sense because people do tend to group together with like-minded people, but sometimes people just don't fit into these molds we tend to put them in... and I'd even venture to say that most of the time, if we took the time to really get to know people... we'd be surprised what we learned and realize a lot of our assumptions are wrong.

And because of this sometimes I feel caught between two worlds... We have a lot of children and my husband and I tend to make some very conservative choices for our family, and our kids are in public school. There is only one other family I know (I'm sure there are others out there, I just don't know them) who has 5 or more kids and puts there kids in public school (love you Jackie!).

It's been interesting... when I am at the school, people are surprised and shocked that I have a lot of children... and the same is true when I am in a group of homeschool families who don't know me well.. because they see me with a lot of kids, they are surprised and shocked that my kids are in public school. And I know for a fact that people on both sides of this have talked about and criticized me for what they think is the wrong decision (either I should stop having kids.. or that I should homeschool my kids). I have both overheard these comments and been told about them.

But all of these comments go out the window when a person takes the time to really get to know me. Then the assumptions end and the truth is revealed. That is when people understand why we have made the choices we have, and when people see our hearts.

Believe me, I am in no way complaining... I'm just giving an example. I can't complain because I do this too... I make assumptions about people, and then when I really get to know them, I begin to understand. And my assumptions are proven either right or wrong, and even when I was right about one thing, it turns out I was wrong about another.

So, the lesson I have been trying to learn is that I need to invest in people. Really get to know them... if I am thinking about a person enough to make assumptions about them, then I should take the time I spend assuming and spend it investing. Investing in their lives and getting to know them.

New Year Plans

I can't stand to be late! I tend to do everything WAY early!! If I'm not fifteen minutes early wherever I am going, I tend to be freaky about it. My Christmas shopping was done in September, everything was wrapped in October, and even the vast majority of the stocking stuff was done before December ever got here. I should say right here that the one exception is my Christmas cards... still haven't even started on those. I usually don't do them till the last minute.. mostly because there is nothing about doing them that I enjoy.

Okay! Back to the point... I said all that to explain that I have a few things planned for the new year already, though it may be a little early to be planning them. Oh, well, that's just the way I roll :-)

First... My two year old is still allowed to have his passy whenever he wants it. This will change in January... we normally make the rule they can only have it in bed when they turn 2 years old, but he turned two a couple days ago and we didn't want to implement that right before holiday travel. So, in January his world will be rocked. He will survive, though :-)

Next... My four year old sucks her thumb. I will begin my mission to stop this in January. And before you all start telling me I don't have to, I know I don't have to... I want to. There are way too many issues with teeth and orthodontics in our family to risk making it worse with lengthy thumb-sucking. So, I will be reading and researching ways to stop this, and in January her world will be rocked. Again, she will survive :-) (This is one of the reasons I will do my best to get my future babies to take a passy... it was easier to take away!)

Next... We have recently implemented a new budget plan. December was the "get the kinks out" month, and we will be going full force with it beginning in January. We are determined to get our credit cards paid off!! We also need a new roof. So, we will need to figure that one out in terms of our budget.

That's all I can remember right now... where's my brain? I think there's more... oh, well, not a big deal. I think my brain is still back at 3:00am when I was up with the baby. Still not sure what his problem was, but then I have days where I'm not sure what my problem is too :-)

We have our Sunday School Christmas party tonight! There is a Polar Express theme for the kids... we're going to have a great time!

Bunches of babies :-)

Okay, so looking at my family picture it's pretty obvious I've got a bunch of kids :-) This seems an appropriate thing to talk about in one of my first posts because I get asked about it a lot.

Normally someone will see me out with a couple of my kids, and in the small talk will realize that I have more. Then they will ask "how many do you have?". When I respond "5", here are some of the questions and comments I get followed by my response in parentheses:

Don't you know what causes that? (umm?? hello??... yes, I do.)

Are they all your husband's? (this one floored me... how is it even close to okay to ask that?!? Yes, they are.)

Do you homeschool? (makes sense. most people I know with "large" families homeschool. And I think homeschooling is great. And I am a stay at home mom. But no, I don't homeschool.)

I'd go crazy at home with all those babies! (Yes.)

How old are you? (I consider this a compliment.. I just assume they think I don't look old enough to have 5 kids :-)

Are you crazy? (yes. But for very different reasons than the number of kids I have ;)

How do you handle it? (Lots and lots of prayer and a husband that is indescribably wonderful!)

You're not having more are you? (Umm.. why do you care? Yes, we will probably have more.... the thing about this question is that it can be asked in a nicer way, but I usually get this version)

Glad it's you and not me! (Me too.)

I could never handle that many! (I couldn't either if mine acted like yours.) (LOL... had to try to say that with a straight face! :-)

That's too many. (according to who?)

There is no way I could afford that. (well of course you couldn't and still live where you live and drive what you drive.) (I do realize that's not true of everyone... it's just usually true of the people who say this to me.)

You need a TV in your bedroom! (Um.. well... *ahem*... I like the way things are, thank you.)

Well, you get the idea. Tons of questions and tons of comments. Most of these statements and questions can be asked with genuine curiosity and interest, which I LOVE! I love getting to know people and sharing back and forth about our lives! There is also a very negative way to ask and say all of these things... when that happens it's hard for me to react correctly (as you can see above!) But I'm trying to do better and praying God will help me do better :-)

So, really, why do we have all these kids? I know you are all just dying to know... especially those of you who knew me "back in the day"... well, you'll have to wait for a later blog post to find out :-)

What's in the name?

Well, I was trying to decide on a name for my blog, and this popped into my mind and seemed appropriate.

I am a Christian, a wife, a mom, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a cousin, a niece, a church member, and I could go on and on. Most women could go on and on in the roles we have in life. So, a lot of times my life and my journey has been about finding balance. A balance that is good and healthy for me and for those I love.

So here goes... not sure I'll stick with a blog, but we will see!

A few warnings... I am goofy, use run on sentences with "..." in them, and occasionally get on a soapbox. Oh, and I've been known to use several smiley faces in my sentences, too :-)

And we're off!!