Chicken Update

For those of you who have been concerned about our chickens, let me finally post an update!  Kevin strengthened our fencing and has been closing the chickens in at night. They've been protected and we've not lost another one to the mysterious predator.

Their egg production has dropped a little though we are usually getting more than a dozen a day.  Of course, having 3 chickens eaten a couple of weeks ago didn't help.  But the remaining 18 just aren't laying as well. That might well be related to the heat.  It has been SO hot.  But we're fine with a dozen plus a day, and indeed have had enough to sell to friends.

Naomi and Daniel

It is amazing having big children who can help soothe Daniel.  Evenings are his "fussy time" and last night Naomi marched around the house for quite a while with Daniel in her arms. Like billions of babies before him, he likes being carried around, so he was happy.  Naomi said at the end of her walk that her arms were tired.  Oh yes, I can relate.  He isn't very heavy but still, a long time of carrying him is tiring. And Naomi is a petite big sister.  You are such a great big sister, Naomi!

Rice Stir Fry

 
I have found making meals to be a challenge since Daniel was born. The first few weeks of his life "ex utero" were easy as Kevin and friends took care of it all.  The last few weeks, I have gradually taken over the meal making duties again, with continued help from Kevin and the kids.  I've struggled with not planning ahead as well as usual, and sometimes it has been 3 p.m. and I have had NO idea what to fix for dinner. 

A long time ago, I had a brief season of planning my meals out in 2 week intervals.  I know and respect people who plan a whole month ahead and there were nice things about meal planning, but I've decided long term it is not for me right now.  One big problem is that I could never gauge how many leftovers we would have on a given day, and food would tend to disappear into corners of the refrigerator and be forgotten. 

The last week has been better in that I've been more prepared ahead of time.  I made this stir fry a couple of days ago and it was quite a success.  I cut up zucchini and tomotoes (both from our garden) as well as carrots and onions, fried them in olive oil, threw in some boiled rice and a few eggs and salt, and voila, dinner. The kids mostly liked it.  It is rare for ALL the children to like anything I make, so if 4 or 5 like it I feel I am doing well.  The ones who don't like it have the option of not eating. We don't make anyone eat anything, but I don't prepare separate things for those who don't like a particular meal.  The kids don't have to eat, but they are not allowed to whine and complain about the food.

One thing we have NOT done much is ordered out.  I have a personal allergy to running to a restaurant when I fail to plan. Anything but that :-).  We were blessed with a gift card from our church which allowed us to buy a few meals from restaurants and oh, that was a blessing.  But in general, I always find something to eat in the house. There have been times when dinner was eggs, muffins, or a variety of leftovers.  Very occasionally, we've had cereal for dinner.  So yes, odd dinners, but dinner is served every day.

Last Piano Lesson

  Yesterday was our big girls last piano lesson with Miss Sarah.  She is leaving for college in a couple short weeks.  She has been their sitter for a couple of years when I work, and their piano teacher for a year.  It is sad to lose her but we are overjoyed that she is following God's call for the future. She is going to study music at college.  Sarah is a great singer and piano player, and a great teacher as well.  She will be missed!

  We're still praying about whether to continue piano lessons with one or both older girls.  There are other piano teachers out there and we have exchanged emails with a young man who seems a likely prospect.  But lessons are expensive...not unreasonably so, "the worker is worthy of his wages", but we need to decide whether this is the best use of money at this time.  So we're thinking through it.

 I have always regretted that I didn't stick with piano when I was young.  I gave up after a few months when I was 9 years old, because it was harder and duller than I thought it would be.  My teacher was a sweet older teen but her mode of teaching was, I think, on the boring side.  I did lots of scales at the beginning and I was frustrated that I didn't play actual songs.  Miss Sarah taught our girls differently and they have played quite a few simple songs. They have made a lot of progress in a year.

  I went through some mourning this last week thinking about the girls not pursuing piano.  Like I said, I wish that I had continued to learn piano when I was a child.  I'd kind of like to take lessons now but don't have the time.   Ok, that was and is ME.  It's not a wise thing for a parent to project her disappointments on her children. Just because I wish I could play the piano doesn't mean the children need to learn piano.  Maybe they should, maybe they shouldn't. We need to pray about it and seek the Lord's direction, not blindly move forward based on emotions.

 Our big girls learned quite a bit this year and can now read music moderately well and can play simple songs.  Perhaps that is all they need for now, or perhaps the Lord does want them to learn more.  We'll see.

Family pics

We had the joy of spending time with out of town family this week. Kevin's sister and 2 children were visiting from Texas. They are driving back right now.

Our children only have 2 first cousins and they live a LONG way away so it was a very special couple of days.

And here is Kevin's mother with Daniel.  Yes, he is getting big!

Christmas Request

This is funny. Our 2nd daughter wrote a Christmas gift request in chalk on our driveway.  I know you can't read this because I barely could when the picture was large. 

It says"  Mom if u read this can you get me a Shadow T-shirt."  That's Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog comics and games.

Working on...the SCHEDULE

This is just a short post to encourage myself.  I am working on our master schedule for the coming school year.

Many years ago, I read a book called Managers of Their Homes by the Maxwells.  The Maxwells are a homeschooling family with many children, and they found it helped them organize their time to have a tight schedule where each half hour of the day was designated towards a particular task.

I'm of the view that scheduling is not a moral issue, but a practical one. Some people hate schedules, others thrive.  I thrive.

But working on the schedule is just that, WORK.  I need to factor in times for the baby to eat, for certain people to get naps, for meals, chores, homeschooling, down time, etc.

May God give me wisdom. This is the first year where I'm splitting the schedule onto 2 pages. There just isn't enough room on one piece of paper for me and the 8 kids to have a column...or at least not without making the print type ridiculously small.