Girls are so different! Both older boys think girls are yuck!! God forbid my husband steals a kiss in their presence. "Yuck", "Why do ya'll kiss so much", "I'm never getting married", "That's disgusting" "I hope God calls me to be like Paul and be single forever" (Can we get that in writing) ...
Oh, but not the girl. With a twinkle in her eye, she's singing a different tune. "I can't wait to get married", "Husbands aren't yuck", "I want to be a wife", "I want to name my husband Sam". Hmmm. Don't know if he'll agree to that one.
Though we extol the virtue of biblical womanhood and the blessing of being a wife and mother, we are careful to caution her that it is a calling; and not all are called. How do we say this to a 5-year-old? "God may want you to be a wife and/or a mommy when you grow up, and he may want you all to himself to serve him in a special way".
So while my sphere of influence over her is still very great, I want to be very intentional about the messages that she receives. These messages will shape her life. Twice I've encountered a principle that is convicting me to the core. I first encountered it in "Every Young Man's Battle" (book review soon to follow). "There is no line that you step over from the teen years to the adult years. God knows that; it's why He sees you as a man right now. You must begin to see yourself this way too because the person you become as a young man is the person you'll drag into adulthood. Your likes and dislikes-from food to music to movies-will follow you. More importantly, your character will be formed..."
And again in Thoughts for Young Men. The third reason young men(and women) need exhorting is because "what young men will be, in all probability depends on what they are now, and they seem to forget this". Obviously, this principle is applicable to boys and girls alike. But as a parent, these words stir me. Reading these truths frightens me, inspires me, and humbles me. I am responsible for molding the very character of people; and the truth is, the cast that I mold has an eternal effect! Now unlike a piece of clay that I can mold, my children have wills. They will freely choose to serve God or not.
So I'm in the process of making CD's for her to listen to during naptime, bedtime, and/ or quiet snuggling times with mommy. I read the book Beautiful Girlhood a few years ago and thought I might read it with my daughter at about 8 or 9. But recently I decided I would like to record it, and let it play for her at bedtime. I looked on the internet to see if there was already an audio version, and to my great delight, there is a Beautiful Girlhood audiobook. So what is my intention? My intention is to familiarize her in the virtues of Godly character
Well I've been looking forward to doing my monthly update for some time. I wanted to write about being a soccer mom, and how fun it is. All the kids started playing soccer. It's so fun to cheer them on. It's a free church league. And the best part is it's very low maintenance. One game a week, one practice a week! It's been a nice family time and we've gotten to enjoy the changing weather together in a fun way. Lots of pictures to follow...
Pregnancy update. Our newest little boy is fit as a fiddle. He passed his last echo so I don't have to see the high risk doctors again. His heart was being monitored because of the complexity of our last son's heart. This new baby, yet unnamed, has a clean bill of health as far as the eye can see. I am quite uncomfortable. I'm huge. I'm in that last month where everything hurts. I had very intense contractions for 4 hours last Sun. I was leaving for the hospital and they finally stopped. I am scheduled for a c-section in Nov. we'll see if I make it that long. I have sewed lots of cute new diapers for the baby. I now have enough newborn diapers and sized small diapers. I used terry cloth for the inside of the diaper. I bought 6 yards of fabric at Joanns with the 40% off coupon, so I paid about $12.00 and I've made 7 diapers so far. I bought 6 yards of fleece from Walmart for $15.00, I haven't used that fabric yet, I'll make large diapers with those, which will last until the children are potty trained. Last week my daughter and I scrubbed the new pac-n-play that someone gave us, and set it up in my room. Kason will be in the new pac-n-play and the baby will be in his old pac-n-play/bassinet. We decided because of his medical issues, we feel better with him staying in the room with us. So what do I still need to get for baby:
Shopping List...
Snappi's
4 or 5 newborn diaper covers.
Inserts for the diapers. I use the Wal-mart Cloth diapers for this and it works great
Plastic 3 drawer storage container for baby clothes
2 boxes of breast pads for the first month or so
2 nursing bras
Tube of Lanolin
and I think that will cover it.
Homeschool update: Homeschooling is going very well. Our goal is 5 days a week, but we've gotten a solid 4 days a week in. We just completed week 5. The twins are progressing through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and the Math U See Primer. Kason is quite interested in reading. He loves learning sounds and sounding out words. He's the first child I've ever had to be so interested at such a young age. He does whatever the twins are doing and loves it. While he does his machines he watches the Letter Factory. Each session is about 30 minutes which is how long the DVD lasts. He's retaining alot of that information. My oldest is progressing well through the multiplication facts. He wrote and typed his first book report. We're having so much fun studying Energy. I have this awesome Energy kit, that I got from a yard sale last year, and lots of great library books. All the kids participate in the energy study. I'm so grateful, and I truly never take for granted that I get to stay home with my family and amazing children every day. I love that in the middle of the day we can up and go to Chuck-E-Cheese or the park or musuem. I love learning with them, and just spending time with them. I truly think they are the greatest little people and I love them all to pieces.
Health Update: Anyone who knows me knows I spend an exorbitant amount of time at the Doc. Kason had been well for about 8 full weeks, which is the longest span of good health he's ever had. He got a UTI and pneumonia in Aug. and recovered without any hospitalizations. He's been fighting an infection off and on, so all his meds and machines have been increased. He's recently been seen by his PCP, pulmonologist, and hemotologist. He sees cardio in two weeks. He is as happy and lively as a little boy could ever be. I thank God for all the people in our lives that help keep him well.
Moving Update: Isn't this the story of our lives. We're always moving. Yesterday our landlord called saying they have to sell the house pretty immediately :-( The Lord gives and the Lord takes away...may the name of the Lord be praised. Do you want to know within 24 hours the Lord has provided for us a beautiful, wonderfully, marvelous home that we can move into immediately. :-) God answered every single prayer that we had in such an amazing way. Obviously the timing couldn't be any worse: I'm nearly 9 months pregnant with zippo energy, I'm in my last 2 weeks of grad school which means hello 100 page paper, my husband is gone 6 days a week working for peak season, Kason's health is growing more precarious, and we have about 2 or 3 weeks to move. But I am comforted that God's plans are not my plans and that he has never forsaken the righteous. It's amazing how God has been orchestrating this whole event without our even knowing it. Just last month I cleaned out every closet in the house, more than 20 bags went to Goodwill. Last week I cleaned the refrigerator. My school check was 3 weeks late, which has never happened in the 7 years I've been in school. But God knew that if we got it, we would have spent it and He knew we would need that money to move. Not only that, this whole move is happening when my husband is working 30 hours of overtime a week!! Didn't God think of everything. He knew we'd need a security deposit and first months rent, even though we didn't. There are so many promises that we get to hold on to because we are His people, I love being held in God's hands.
Ok I ran out of energy, so I'll have to post the pics another day.
Pregnancy update. Our newest little boy is fit as a fiddle. He passed his last echo so I don't have to see the high risk doctors again. His heart was being monitored because of the complexity of our last son's heart. This new baby, yet unnamed, has a clean bill of health as far as the eye can see. I am quite uncomfortable. I'm huge. I'm in that last month where everything hurts. I had very intense contractions for 4 hours last Sun. I was leaving for the hospital and they finally stopped. I am scheduled for a c-section in Nov. we'll see if I make it that long. I have sewed lots of cute new diapers for the baby. I now have enough newborn diapers and sized small diapers. I used terry cloth for the inside of the diaper. I bought 6 yards of fabric at Joanns with the 40% off coupon, so I paid about $12.00 and I've made 7 diapers so far. I bought 6 yards of fleece from Walmart for $15.00, I haven't used that fabric yet, I'll make large diapers with those, which will last until the children are potty trained. Last week my daughter and I scrubbed the new pac-n-play that someone gave us, and set it up in my room. Kason will be in the new pac-n-play and the baby will be in his old pac-n-play/bassinet. We decided because of his medical issues, we feel better with him staying in the room with us. So what do I still need to get for baby:
Shopping List...
Snappi's
4 or 5 newborn diaper covers.
Inserts for the diapers. I use the Wal-mart Cloth diapers for this and it works great
Plastic 3 drawer storage container for baby clothes
2 boxes of breast pads for the first month or so
2 nursing bras
Tube of Lanolin
and I think that will cover it.
Homeschool update: Homeschooling is going very well. Our goal is 5 days a week, but we've gotten a solid 4 days a week in. We just completed week 5. The twins are progressing through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and the Math U See Primer. Kason is quite interested in reading. He loves learning sounds and sounding out words. He's the first child I've ever had to be so interested at such a young age. He does whatever the twins are doing and loves it. While he does his machines he watches the Letter Factory. Each session is about 30 minutes which is how long the DVD lasts. He's retaining alot of that information. My oldest is progressing well through the multiplication facts. He wrote and typed his first book report. We're having so much fun studying Energy. I have this awesome Energy kit, that I got from a yard sale last year, and lots of great library books. All the kids participate in the energy study. I'm so grateful, and I truly never take for granted that I get to stay home with my family and amazing children every day. I love that in the middle of the day we can up and go to Chuck-E-Cheese or the park or musuem. I love learning with them, and just spending time with them. I truly think they are the greatest little people and I love them all to pieces.
Health Update: Anyone who knows me knows I spend an exorbitant amount of time at the Doc. Kason had been well for about 8 full weeks, which is the longest span of good health he's ever had. He got a UTI and pneumonia in Aug. and recovered without any hospitalizations. He's been fighting an infection off and on, so all his meds and machines have been increased. He's recently been seen by his PCP, pulmonologist, and hemotologist. He sees cardio in two weeks. He is as happy and lively as a little boy could ever be. I thank God for all the people in our lives that help keep him well.
Moving Update: Isn't this the story of our lives. We're always moving. Yesterday our landlord called saying they have to sell the house pretty immediately :-( The Lord gives and the Lord takes away...may the name of the Lord be praised. Do you want to know within 24 hours the Lord has provided for us a beautiful, wonderfully, marvelous home that we can move into immediately. :-) God answered every single prayer that we had in such an amazing way. Obviously the timing couldn't be any worse: I'm nearly 9 months pregnant with zippo energy, I'm in my last 2 weeks of grad school which means hello 100 page paper, my husband is gone 6 days a week working for peak season, Kason's health is growing more precarious, and we have about 2 or 3 weeks to move. But I am comforted that God's plans are not my plans and that he has never forsaken the righteous. It's amazing how God has been orchestrating this whole event without our even knowing it. Just last month I cleaned out every closet in the house, more than 20 bags went to Goodwill. Last week I cleaned the refrigerator. My school check was 3 weeks late, which has never happened in the 7 years I've been in school. But God knew that if we got it, we would have spent it and He knew we would need that money to move. Not only that, this whole move is happening when my husband is working 30 hours of overtime a week!! Didn't God think of everything. He knew we'd need a security deposit and first months rent, even though we didn't. There are so many promises that we get to hold on to because we are His people, I love being held in God's hands.
Ok I ran out of energy, so I'll have to post the pics another day.
Wow! It's been a month since I posted. What's happened? I don't really remember, nothing stands out at least.
Today we started school!!! Sadly, my kids have no idea that Labor Day is a "no work" holiday. My oldest started third grade and the twins started kindergarten. I was especially full of anticipation and excitement. I was happy to be on schedule again. It was a good, but loooooong day! My husband said, "you're still doing school?" We had a few interruptions. The refrigerator started leaking. I left Kason semi-unattended while he watched Leap Frog and did his machines, when I returned he broke the "f" off of my keyboard, and I have yet to figure out how to get it back on. All in all it was a great day. The twins turn five this week! They enjoyed Kindergarten. I'm exhausted, I'm going to drink tea and go to bed. We have ballet, and co-op tomorrow. When I have more energy, I'll share more about our homeschool plans. I'm excited about our year.
Today we started school!!! Sadly, my kids have no idea that Labor Day is a "no work" holiday. My oldest started third grade and the twins started kindergarten. I was especially full of anticipation and excitement. I was happy to be on schedule again. It was a good, but loooooong day! My husband said, "you're still doing school?" We had a few interruptions. The refrigerator started leaking. I left Kason semi-unattended while he watched Leap Frog and did his machines, when I returned he broke the "f" off of my keyboard, and I have yet to figure out how to get it back on. All in all it was a great day. The twins turn five this week! They enjoyed Kindergarten. I'm exhausted, I'm going to drink tea and go to bed. We have ballet, and co-op tomorrow. When I have more energy, I'll share more about our homeschool plans. I'm excited about our year.
I'm currently listening to:
Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord for the 2nd time. It is an amazing seminar for parents of children under 10.
Courtship. Yeah that time is approaching soon. Basically my husband and I are starting to have dialogue about the kinds of conversations we need to start having with our children regarding boy/girl relationships. I am comforted by Isaiah 28:9-10
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
When I feel like I have to teach them everything today, I'm comforted by this scripture. Here a little and there a little.
I want to listen to:
About 10 messages from The Baby Conference
And some messages from Dr. S.M. Davis. I found this website on the Duggars website and there are some messages here I'd really like to listen to.
My iPod gets me through laundry and I'm so grateful.
