Secrets and Stomach Aches

Today Rachel came up to me, nuzzled my arm and said, "last night I felt sick, but I felt better in the morning." I inquired more into this because she has been known to puke in her bed at night and hide it with a blanket. Since she got dressed first thing in the morning and I had not been into her room yet, this definitely was possible. She assured me there was no hidden mess in her room-- just that her stomach felt sick, but was better by morning. Then she said, "I keep a lot of secrets from you mom. Isn't that funny?" Huh? Really at 5.

Help, Help

I really am asking for help. My eighth month old baby, Joshua is not nursing well, and he won't take formula. He is only 14 pounds, so he is not even on the chart for his weight. I have tried to get him to eat solid food (baby cereal, mushed fruit, and vegetables), but the only things he will eat consistently are yogurt and chocolate. I do give him a lot of yogurt, but I doubt he can get everything he needs from yogurt. I've put swiss miss cocoa into his cereal to get him to eat it, but I really don't like giving him chocolate and sugar. I know a lot of people out there in blog world  know a lot and do a lot with nutrition, so I am asking WHAT SHOULD I DO? What should I give him to eat so that he can get the nutrients he needs to grow? I've been thinking about trying avocados. I am not sure if he would even be willing to eat it. How do you get such a fussy baby to eat? I have had one other very fussy eater, but he breast fed very well until he was 17months old. So if any of you know about what foods I should give him or have had such an extremely fussy eater, please let me know what you think I should do.

Johnny turns 10

 

My little boy is ten years old now! I guess he is not a little kid anymore. Johnny has always been a good and easy kid to care for and he still is! 

So about my boy: Johnny is in soccer and he is loving that. He loves to read and he stays up past midnight reading most nights. (like hid dad) I guess it is surprising that he is still good natured the next day. He likes games a lot, both computer games and board games. (like his dad too) He has always been and is still a walking, talking encyclopedia. The kid astounds and annoys me with how much he knows. He also astounds and annoys me by telling me every detail in every book he reads. I am lucky to have such a good boy! I look forward to seeing who this kid grows up to be. Johnny has a lot of potential!

Blah, Blah Blah, Another HomeSchool Post

Did I say homeschool is hard? I met another homeschool mom in the library yesterday as we were both getting books to prepare school for the upcoming week. I chatted for a few minutes. I didn't have much time. But she said something that rang true. "Homeschool is a full time job." That's it. That is why I am so tired and feel like I am extremely over the top busy. I felt like just having eight kids was a full time job. That was no big deal because having 8 kids was my full time job. Compared to John's full time job, with taking care of the home and our 8 children, I put in as much time into family and work as he did. I didn't have another job. Now I have two full time jobs. I am a teacher and a full time mother. It is very tiring. There have been times, when I have felt like giving it all up. BUT... I am finding so many good things about homeschool!


The first but, I am astounded at how much better the education is. Now, I am not an unschooler. My personality is very structured. I like to be organized. So our school is very organized. Each child has thier assignments and lessons that we do every day. On Friday's and Saturdays I spend about 4 hours preparing lessons and assignments for the entire week. The older kids are handed a syllabus and they have to check each thing off with me or John everyday before they are allowed to end school. The little kids have their worksheets labelled for each day in their folders. I have each younger child scheduled in for lessons with me. Our school is very structured and my kids are making leaps and bounds. The education, without a doubt, is far superior to what they were getting in public schools. For example, Johnny is studying ancient civilizations this school year. After two weeks he has completed reading around 300 pages about Ancient Egypt. He has been required to write about everything he reads. Look at any history textbook through the 12th grade and you will not find anything so in depth. (Have you read your kids textbooks? You ought to take a look, but that is another blog all by itself.) It is just not there. Now, Johnny is in fifth grade. No fifth grader in the public schools gets anything so thorough and in such a short time during school hours. Another example is Ruth's Shakespeare class. She is required to read 7 Shakespeare plays and she will be preforming one with about 15 other homeschooled teenagers. And she is loving it! You cannot find such an in depth study in any eighth grade class in the public schools. One more example is I am doing Spanish with my younger children. Rachel knows the days of the week in Spanish better than English. They are learning to write in Spanish along side English. I am pleased to beable to give my kids foreign language experience so young.

The second but is time. Not my time, that is, but my children's time. All of their studies are finished during the school day! There is no homework as such. There is no wasted time. Most of the kids even eat lunch while working because then they will have more free time later.

The third but is well my kids. I know my kids better. I know their strengths and weaknesses better. I know what things they have picked up from being in school and who they just are. Ruth changed at the end of 7th grade last year. Instead of being the nice girl who enjoyed helping out and spending time with her parents and siblings, she became the teenager who was yelling at her parents and being mean to her younger siblings and well just acting like the textbook teenager. By the end of the summer she was back to just Ruth. She is still back to herself. She spends near to 12 hours a week with friends at church, her Shakespeare class, and select friends hanging out and swimming. But she is still just Ruth, not Ruth's friends.

The fourth but is Johnny. We have noticed that about all he learned in his four years in public school was how to waste time really, really well. He was never given enough work to keep him busy, and he learned how to waste a lot time without causing trouble or being noticed. We cringe to think what this bad habit could have done to him as an adult. Johnny has enough work to keep him busy and I am taking notice and making sure he is occupied in a good way.

I could go on with other buts, like Adam needing extra help with reading and not having to do that after school time. Suffice it to say. There are enough good buts to continue the exhausting hard work of two full time jobs.

What's Scary

Kate carried Joseph up the stairs on her shoulders to bring him to bed. The whole time, Joseph was screaming saying, "This is scary." Once upstairs, I brushed his teeth, whisked him into bed and asked, "Did Kate scare you?" Joseph replied, "Yes scary, and monsters with hot cocoa and bananas!"

Ssshhhhh Don't Tell

Adam who never sings at church or with the family always sings whenever he uses the bathroom. And he actually sounds pretty good. But he better not find out I can hear him.

My Family Proclamation in Pictures

Our Family: The  Proclamation

We, The First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God 

And that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. 

Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.

Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.

Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. 

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.

Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.

Sundays

Some Sundays are actually nice days and church is something to enjoy rather than to get through. Last Sunday, was not that Sunday. It all started... at the beginning. As soon as we stepped out of the car, in fact. You see, Anya was a an even tempered, delightful, easy going two year old. She decided she had enough of being easy going, even tempered and delightful just after she turned 3. Now I find myself saying two things: 1.Who is the 13 teen year old? Anya or Ruth, and 2. Who is the 2 year old? Ruth or Joseph. (You see, it goes both ways). Back to Sunday. Anya did not like the way she was unbuckled. Oh the horror, she began to ball. Then she didn't like that Dad took her out of the car instead of Mom. Then she didn't like that some one else was holding the door for her. Fortunatley, there were programs sitting outside the chapel doors and she did like that. We managed to make it to the pew without further tears.

But, the baby was hungry. Anya, wanted to sit on my lap, Joseph wanted to sit on my lap, and Joshua really did need me to help his hunger pains through the passing of the Sacrament. John (the dad) left to pass the Sacrament. (The dads take this job in our ward because there are so few young men).

I survived the sacrament, but barely. Anya dumped her water into several other cups after she had sipped it, and Joshua grabbed a little cup and dumped it on me. But we survived. As soon as John was seated again, I got up to go feed Joshua. Anya and Joseph decided to come with me. I consented. Then Rachel ran after me too. I sent her back.

To get to the mother's nursing room you have to go through a girls bathroom. I find that kind of yucky, but more people are willing to throw gross diapers there instead of the tiny room with all the feeding moms. (For that I am grateful). Of course as we passed through a bathroom, Anya needed to go. NO WAY, FORGET IT was my reply. So tears in the mothers room, until "Wow, neat, soft rocking chairs!" I sat in one and began feeding Joshua. Anya sat in another and began rocking and laughing. Joseph attacked Anya because he wanted the chair too. Thus, my two toddlers were wrestling and screaming in the mother's room while I tried to feed my baby.  I gave up the nice comfy rocking chair for a stiff harder to balance the baby on chair to keep my toddlers quiet. Thankfully, Joshua eats quickly, especially when there is a lot of commotion in the room.

We had to go through the bathroom again. Anya said she had to go again. I said no again because I did not have the hands available to take her. As we walked back into the chapel, Joseph started yelling "No!" (Sorry, Joe, there was no way I was going to stay another minute in the mother's room with you. Especially since other Mom's were entering as we exited.) Anya was still saying she needed to go potty. John said he would take her.

As John was exiting, Anya somersaulted down the aisle, stood up and declared, "I did a trick!" Lovely. I looked at the clock-- 40 more minutes to go. Joshua was still fussy, and Joseph still wanted my lap only. SIGH.

John came back as I continued to wrestle with the two little boys. He sat down next to Rachel and Anya who started to draw pictures. The older kids were further down the pew gabbing loudly. Rachel said, "I am drawing pooping." Anya said, "I am drawing pooping too." John said, "Don't draw gross things in church. You should draw something happy. Rachel said, "I am drawing Christmas." Anya said, "I am drawing Christmas too."

Meanwhile the older 4 were still gabbing loudly. John grabbed a piece of paper and drew a picture of the Grim Reaper saying, "This will be your fate if you aren't quiet." Weird, but it worked.

Time slowly ticked on. I had and still have no idea who the speakers even were, much less what they actually talked about. But we did make it out alive and although Joseph fell asleep just before the meeting ended, there was no way, I was going to take that kid to Sunday school. We woke him up and sent him off to nursery. I didn't get a bad report about Joseph and Anya in nursery. I think the nursery teachers survived too.

Joshua fussed the other 2 hours, so I left as soon as the clock struck 4 and hauled those little ones into their car seats. As fortune would have it, we had left over dorritos and root beer floats from Saturdays progressive dinner. After two root beer floats and more dorritos than I am willing to admit to eating, I felt better. I think we will have dorritos and root beer floats every Sunday after church!

Today, I want to talk about This sentence:

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.



In paragraph seven of The Family: A Proclamation to the World.I love this paragraph because it is the paragraph that tells us what to do. Most of the Proclamation tells us who we are in relationship to God. That is very important to know. The seventh paragraph tells us what we need to be a forever family.

What to do:

1. Have faith: in Alma 32:21 it states  And now as I said concerning faith, faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. Since becoming a mother, I have wondered how could I ever have done this without faith. Faith is a driver behind all that we do as a family that is good. I have my large family because of faith. We go to church because of faith. We are kind, and we are trying to have charity because of faith. Family life is amazing, but it is made amazing because of the faith that if we keep the commandments that God has given to his children our lives will be blessed. We have seen this again and again in our family. It is also amazing because of the faith that when we do keep the commandments, we are working toward keeping these amazing family relationships forever.
2. Prayers: We feel closer to each other and closer to God when we pray as a family. We also receive revelation together as a family for the family when we prayer together. I receive patience to deal will all of the little irritating things that pop up through the day only as I pray and ask for it. Yes, prayer helps our family know what to do, and it helps us to act how we should. We need our Heavenly Father, and we find Him together as a family through prayer.
3. Repentance: I think one of the best things John and I have done as parents is apologizing continually to our children when we make mistakes. We apologize when we lose out temper or are impatient or were just wrong about something. It helps all of us to be more humble and to forgive more easily.
4. Forgiveness: Any family can not survive without forgiveness. We must allow for the faults of others in our family, and we must lovingly let things pass everyday. Where there is no forgiveness there is no love.
5. Respect: I am not sure I understand respect very well. There is some sense where we give up on some things we want because we love the other person, and there is admiration for the person who has done a lot for you.
6. Love: love comes through service. We love those we serve and in turn they love us. Love also comes from knowing someone intimately. We love our families when we spend a lot time with them.
7. Compassion: I think this goes along with service too. For a family to be close we must be there for each other when times are tough for an individual in the family. After, I had my eighth baby my mother in law and sister in laws came to my home unannounced and cooked and cleaned, and filled our pantry. They recognized a need, felt compassion, and acted. That is necessary in everyday family life. It helps me not get upset with my 13 year old for spending an hour locked in the bathroom.
8. Work: I like this one. My kids often hear me say that we can't be happy without work. I am that freaky kind of person that cleans and cleans when I am stressed. I develop confidence and I find peace when I work, and I notice the same for my kids. Working together and developing that confidence and that marvelous sense of a a job well done has a very binding effect.
9. Wholesome Recreational Activities: This has got to be everyone's favorite part of being a family. This is where traditions and memories are formed. My kids favorite memories come from vacations we have taken, and day trips and holidays with lots of junk food. I love how John's family gets together all of the time to hang out and eat and play games. John's siblings are so close. They worked together and played together a lot as children and they still work together and play together a lot as adults. I want that for my children too. I have also learned that wholesome recreational activities come at a cost to the mother. They create a lot more work than ordinary life. There are plans to be made, extra food to be made and all of the cleanup. This tends to fall on the mother. But it is so worth it for the closeness it creates and the traditions it makes.

I am grateful for inspired prophets and apostles that tell us what we need for a heavenly home.

The Proclamation: The two final paragraph's

I am going to link in with Chocolate on my Cranium, The Redheaded Hostess,Welcome to the Madness, and We Talk of Christ in writing about The Family: A Proclamation to the World from Sept 9th to the 23rd.

I love the Proclamation. When It came out in September of 1995, I was a bitter, unhappy almost 20 year old college sophmore. I thought family was meant for other people--not me. I did not think I would marry or have kids or any of that. When the Bishopric of my singles ward presented this and taught us about all the other church proclamations and how important this was, I nodded, thought it really had nothing to do with me and went to sleep. 2 years later, I was married, pregnant with my first child, and very happy. At that time as I began planning for a future as a parent, I took more notice of the Proclamation. I did not realize how important it would be to the world and to all of God's children. As I have seen satan's plan to destroy the family unfold in the last 10 years, I have realized how very relevant the Proclamation of the Family is to the entire world.

Today, I am going to focus on the two final paragraph's. They state:

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.
We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

In the last year, I have focused a lot on the final paragraph.  I have seen very organized groups attacking the family. The attacks come in various ways. There are the groups that would destroy marriage. There are groups that would make people think children are a burden and an expense and not worth having. There are groups that promote all types of immorality as normal and acceptable.These groups are actively promoting immorality to children. These group are well funded and very organized. One example is the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union). Currently the ACLU is suing school districts around the nation that block pornography and other sexual websites in the school.  See here and here.

When the Proclamation was written in 1995, the First Presicency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles foresaw these events and felt to warn us. They knew our children, the children in Christian and Latter Day Saint homes, would be the people most under attack. They knew that we would need to be armed with the knowledge that we are children of God, that our bodies are a part of God's divine plan for His children, that husband and wives need to work together and that their separate rolls are divinely appointed, and that our gender was part of us before we were born. The Proclamation to the Family is a safety net today against a barrage of false doctrine. We need to defend it and declare it in our homes, in our communities, and in our schools.

Check It Out

I am linking up with, Chocolate on my Cranium, The Redheaded Hostess,Welcome to the Madness, and We Talk of Christ in writing about The Family: A Proclamation to the World from Sept 9th to the 23rd.


Well, I am not really linking up with them. I have not been invited. But, I wanted to write about the Proclamation on the Family too, and I love reading what other people are writing about the The Family: A Proclamation to the World. So check me out in my SCRIPTURE MUSINGS TAB, and check out these other lovely ladies writing to celebrate the family.

I Love These: Recent Photos

Here I am taking a nap on the floor with Joshua next to me playing in a pile of stuffed animals.

I took the little kids to the rides at Liberty Park.

I love the look on Rachel's face here.

The cat taking a nap across the amplifier and printer

Rachel and Anya making room in their bed for their dolls.

Home School Week 2

This week went really well. A lot of the difficulties from week one have been smoothed out, and the kids are settling into the idea of schooling at home. My body is getting used to the extra work and I do not feel as tired as I felt the previous week. Everyday seemed calm. The kids worked quietly and efficiently most days. I have worked on how to fit things in better so that we have time for more fun things. Ruth is finishing her online school in 4 to 5 hours so she has more time for reading her own books and drawing. I had laryngitis all week and have learned that a quiet voice works just as well as a loud one. I need to remember this little lesson. I think that added to the peace of the week.

We still have a couple of changes to make for next week. Ruth has a Shakespeare class on Thursdays from 1 to 3. I want to make sure all of the rest of us have finished school by 12:30 that day so we can use that time for the park in good weather and the library in bad. Johnny needs me to be more consistently checking his work and making sure he is not just goofing off. To do this, I have made a daily check list for both Kate and Johnny that I will go over with them halfway through the day and they will have to turn it in at the end the day with all of their completed work.

Cooking went better this week because I bought food. It is funny how having food on hand and not having to rack my brain helps. The laundry is still in the figuring out phase. I guess I should have the older kids help, I just feel guilty when they have their school work. By giving all of the kids more written work, we are consolidating our time better.  I have given up on the "don't interrupt me." I let them interrupt and whoever is most urgent gets me. Oddly enough his is working pretty well. Thanks for all of the advice here.

I really like the freedom of home school. I like that I have Johnny working on programming, We are hoping to get him a real job when he turns 16 rather than a burger flipping job. I like that Johnny can be mainly working at a 7th grade level. I like that history is mainly a lot of very interesting reading rather than a boring textbook full of dates and battles. Kate who has never liked reading much is enjoying her history reading a lot! I like that I have the time to help my first grader with reading rather than having to fit that in after 6 hours of school with a tired kid.

Our Whoopie Pie Moon Phases. Adam and Rachel are currently learning about the moon for science.

Kate typing her book report.

Ruth has her own laptop and likes to do her school at the kitchen table while listening to music-- mainly Taylor Swift.

Adam, Rachel, and Anya playing together after they finished school. Anya has been a little unhappy when Rachel has to work rather than play, but I am sure she would be more unhappy if  Rachel was away at school.

Kate on Girls in Movies

About girls in movies, Kate said,  "They're french kissing boys they meet the next day as long as he's got a cool back story and a gun."

You Know You Have Big Family When

1. Whenever you meet anyone within 10 years of your own age, you have kids their kids ages.
2. You have as many loads of laundry in one day as there are days of the week.
3. You shop like a hoarder but the stuff you buy only lasts a month.
4. You have a five year old who can change diapers.
5. The librarians, principals, and all the teachers know your names, but you can NEVER remember their names.
6. Your that neighbor with bikes all over your lawn and still most of the bikes are put away in the garage.
7. The old man in the grocery store asks you if you know what causes it, and you have your reply on hand to embarrass him because you have been there before.
8. Even though you just cleaned up from dinner your kitchen is a mess.
9. You are the only family at church that takes an entire center pew, and sometimes you still feel squished.
10. Your food bill is half your years salary and your kids are still hungry.

Go ahead, add to the list...

Homeschool Week One and Some Questions

I have a new respect for homeschooling moms. If you are not one, I have to say do not criticize. These women WORK HARD! I am exhausted!!!! I can't believe the amazing amount of work this whole thing takes and I have 8 kids and have not found that hard. When people say, "I can never do that," maybe that is true. I am feeling that way now.

We have had a few glitches that I am beginning to work out.  Glitch number 1: Kate did not like the online school because she wanted more freedom and because she misses the attention from a teacher. So Kate has decided I will be her teacher and write her curriculum. I am still working on finding her books. Right now, we are testing out a few books from the library. After looking through history text books, I have decided she would learn more just from children's nonfiction books in the library. That will be a start and I am making her do American History. We are also trying a 90's algebra book from the library, but we may still buy her a newer text. For science she is using Ruth's science book. For English she is using Diana Hacker's guide for writers.

Glitch number 2: Johnny did not want to do online school either, even though they bumped him to fifth grade. I am going to just bump him to 5th grade too. We have had to get books for Johnny too. I am having him do the same library history route as Kate, but he is studying ancient world history. We are skipping cavemen and evolution and going straight to Ancient Egypt. We have purchased him a math book which hasn't arrived in the mail yet. For now, I am printing up worksheet from the internet. For science we are doing the same as history and letting him pick the topics as long as there will be a variety through the year. Right now he is interested in geology. For English he is learning the parts of the speech and keeping a writing journal. We will have to see how my invented curriculum goes for Kate and Johnny.

Here is a little of what I am doing to maintain order:
1.I get up 1 1/2 hours before my kids to deep clean and read scriptures. If the kids wake up with me they are deep cleaning too. It helps them get a little more sleep.
2.We begin the day reading the Friend and New Era, singing church songs, and having a child present a scripture.
3. Then I read to the little kids, do little kid annoying play songs, and then calendar and weather.
4.Then I start individual lessons. That goes for most of the day. We usually finish after 3.
5. Then I give some piano lessons.
6.Then I try to get PE in. We go to the Rec Center Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think I will up that to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  Johnny will be starting soccer this Tuesday for 6 weeks, and this week I am going to add in dance lessons and gymnastics. We also have Young Womens and Cub Scouts for evening activities. John and I also like to get in the Temple once a week. The evening's will be hard.We are still figuring this out.
7. After PE I have to make dinner. I am not doing very well at this.
8. I am trying to make lesson plans each Saturday and do the shopping then too.

So my questions for all you amazing homeschooling genius's:
1.How do you cook and do home school?
2.What are your ideas on taking care of multiple kids lessons and babies?
3.How do you keep up on your laundry?
4.How long is your school day? And how do you shorten it?
5.Am I worrying about getting too much done?