my life in pictures...

 the professor is out of town.

it was our crazy wednesday.

music lessons, K.K's, a quick trip to the park with friends... then scouts.

it's getting colder, so instead of a picnic, we did wendy's in the car, in the church parking lot.

it was a beautiful texas night.

we had our window's rolled down and the country music playing.

the boys and i danced in the parking lot to a few good songs.

love it.

(ps.  the salad, pizza, and caramel corn were leftover pictures from this weekend.)

balance.

Wow!!  I really want to want to be this girl...

i was reading this link...  and i watched this...

he really made me think.  and.  it made me want to enjoy the bumps and bruises of a harder routine.

ps.  i don't think homeschooling is an easy routine.
pps.  this reminded me of this quote

President David O. McKay said that the rich rewards come only to the strenuous strugglers. from this talk

i would say that i am NOT perfect... but i AM a strenuous struggler.
i am grateful for a Savior that Saves a struggler like me.
i am grateful that He can take my water and turn it into wine.
And... i'm committed to giving it my all...
even when sometimes it feels like the whole world can see me fall on my face.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.-Eleanor Roosevelt

save the world... make a home

I was reading this talk, Organize Yourselves... and I loved the following quote:

President J. Reuben Clark said,
“May God … give you the vision of the true homemaker, that you will be able to save by this course, not alone Zion, but the world. And that is your destiny … to save the world.”
(Relief Society Magazine, Dec. 1949, p. 798.)

The work of women, then, takes on a deep and significant meaning. The daily business of homemaking becomes very important—in fact, the most important business in the world. A home is more than a house or a room to live in. For one person making a home for herself, or for the mother of a large family, the home should be a place of learning, a place where prayer can point the way to eternal life. That is how the world will be saved—by strengthening every child of God in every home. 

In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord tells us,
“Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119).

Before I moved from Michigan my friend Corrie and I made a pact to always write "SUPERHERO" when we need to write our occupation.  I have done it sometimes and it always makes me smile.

Last year I went to see a psychiatrist...  I had to laugh when I read his report, he said, "Does not appear overly religious although did write GOD as her employer."  (The professor couldn't believe i would write that on a psyche evaluation... i  know, i AM a little bit crazy.  You can't be completely sane and be PTA President.)


I do believe that I am doing the most important work of the universe.  Not just the teaching part, or the nurturing part or the nourishing part... also the organizing part, the cleansing part, the part where I create a home, an environment where my family can feel the Spirit of God, where they can learn, where they can enjoy being together and begin to desire an ETERNITY together with family.  This is my destiny... First, to save the WORLD by strengthening the children in my home.  I believe my work in my home will have eternal consequences.  And, when I have built a foundation, they will go forth and I will go forth.  I love BYU's motto, ENTER TO LEARN, GO FORTH TO SERVE.  I think I need that above my door.


If I have this story correct, my great-great grandmother lived in an industrial depot town (near lots of trains).  She had a lot of kids and lived in a tiny house.  One thing she was known for was her WHITE curtains.  You can imagine the smoot from the trains grayed everything quickly, but she kept her curtains clean.

I want to be like that in my home.  
I want to be white when the smoot around us tends to turn us gray.  
I want my children's faces to glow, my heart to be pure,  and my curtains to be white...  

Occupation:  Homemaker/ Mother/ Superhero
Employer: God
Salary: Greater than Gold 

learning... faces

i love first faces.

i love lots and lots of hair.

i love how the face is the whole body.
i love the dot noses and eyes. 
(there are no freckles on first faces, every dot has a meaning, sometimes they have lots and lots of eyes or noses, just because they're fun to draw) 
i love the legs coming out the chin. 
(they look like teeth, but the experienced eye knows they are legs) 
i love BIG smiles and tiny eyes.
growing... learning... becoming... 
love it.

note: the bigger girls were home when leah was drawing her first faces... they began to TEACH and correct her first faces. Ellie added an ear... i knew that first faces don't have ears... they have ARMS coming out where the ears are. i had to explain to the girls that our role is to encourage and praise.  as a young mother i learned that if you push a child into developing, they become self-conscious and insecure.  the more confidant they feel in their ability the more they will 'practice' and the quicker they will develop.  so, my older girls, my young mothers-in-training, learned an important lesson that afternoon.  NEVER correct first faces.  Just find the nose-dot and praise the nose... find the legs coming out the chin and praise the legs...  love the hair that goes all the way around...  in my home... there will be NO ear drawing.  At least for a few weeks.  We trust... with more and more faces, the ears will come. And someday, on a quiet afternoon, after minutes of praising, i might say something like, "ooooo, i love his big smile... he can talk good.  how does he hear?"  quickly, ears will be added and confidance will be increased.  and, when that happens there is a joy for ears, but a sadness for the arms that used to come where the ears now are.  seriously, i LOVE first faces.

pictures from my night...

i picked up my camera while i was cooking dinner... you will see me as i called my girls home from Mr. Bills, fed them, anna and ellie went to bed early, the little girls took long naps so they were still awake when dad and the boys got home from soccer... bedtime for them took a little longer due to an extra piano practice and lots of playtime...

i think you can see the joy a baby brings to the family.

i love how lily made her way to each of the kids as i made my rounds.

i'm grateful for 6... can't imagine life without any one of them.

“How can there be too many children? That’s like saying there are too many flowers.”

Mother Teresa

pictures from my day...

our family binder... it's a good thing

So, you know how i'm in this ORGANIZING mode.  Here's one thing I started that I LOVE!

 A FAMILY BINDER...

-weekly schedule 

we just write appointments, practices, and what time dinner is, etc.  i'll usually say, anna-dance 4:30-5:30 (i include travel time) mom-drop off, dad pick-up. i also love the part where i can say what we're studying for scripture time that week, what we're doing for family night, and any special expenses.  the kids love to see what is happening.

-meal plan

i stick the recipes i'm going to try right in the binder

-chore charts 

(i call them responsibility charts)

nope.  i don't give allowance, we're poor.  this is just a tool i use when they say "can I go outside? or can i go on the computer?"  i say, "go get the binder and show me what you've done."  it's SOOO nice not to have to ask them every single thing.

-personal goals 

(LOVE THIS... everyone knows what everyone else is working on... like Dad- find a job, Mom- organize the cupboards, Lily- learn to say 3 new words, Jakob- personal prayer, etc.  love it!!)

-family moments

this is where i write down all the funny, spiritual, horrible moments that i know i want to remember later... i also hole punch stuff, like cute pictures they draw or notes they write and just stick em in.

-family budget 

just a copy of my two week plan and the professor's excel spreadsheet

I keep ours in the basket, on our coffee table, with our scriptures.

In the morning, when we have scripture time, I take a few minutes and go over our family business...

i LOVE it.

i feel organized,

also that we're involving the kids in our planning

it is easier to have the binder than it was not to have it.

so.  it's a good thing.

what's for breakfast? spinach smoothies

yup.  spinach.  fresh spinach leaves.

and real carrots

and frozen mixed berries

and protein powder

and sometimes yogurt

and water or juice

maybe some frozen juice concentrate

and my kids drink them up.

a friend from church told me about adding spinach... 

i was sure that they would be all green and stuff

nope.  they're still pretty.

(just don't let your kids see the mixer BEFORE you blend)

50's day

[can you see the extra head?]

i love that my kids love dress-up

i love that drew is in 4th grade and he's confidant enough to wear a mom tattoo...

i love baby heads popping in the picture.

mom Agenda... love it

So, at the beginning of the school year I was trying to find myself a planner... to be my brain.

I had just learned the phrase-- Use your brain for solving problems and PAPER for remembering.

But, i kept putting my remembering on paper and then not remembering where my paper was.

Not so good.

So, I used my brain for problem solving and decided I need a good, brain worthy, planner.

My favorite up till that point was a folded in half piece of computer paper or an index cards.

(I still often stick a piece of computer paper in my planner and I still love index cards.)

I looked and looked for a planner.  I wanted MONTHLY and WEEKLY, and I wanted space to write my flimsy stuff as well as my fixed stuff.  And, I don't like specific times, cause my life works best when I write down an ORDER not a SCHEDULE.  I can do broad times, not specific.

NOTHING.  I was surprised how many stores I looked through and how many dumb planners I found.  Until I found MomAgenda.  I thought it was HORRIBLY EXPENSIVE, I debated, and finally I bought one... I think I spent around $60 when I added the pockets for the front and back, shopping lists, and to do list stuff.  (To me it was like $600.)

Honestly....  IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!

Now they're on sale for $31!!!   Here is the link if you're interested.

Anyway.  
I love it.
And, it NEVER forgets. 

(note:: i don't think you need the extra stuff... like the pockets... if i need to i just stick a paper inside and it's fine.  And, I like printing out a meal  plan/shopping list from the computer that way you don't have to re-write it every single week.)