Simplifying life

Today at church we had a lesson that really hit home with me. It was on simplifying our lives. I guess it isn't something I had thought about recently. A lot of the stress in our lives we create ourselves. During the lesson we were told about a man who lived by himself in a cabin for two years. After that time he said he had determined that we have four basic needs. Now I don't know about you, but when I start listing my "needs" my list is way longer than four things! I "need" my cell phone, Internet, cable TV, extra money to eat out, you get the picture!
Well the things on this mans list were food, shelter, clothes and fuel(spiritual fuel is what he focused on). We had a really good discussion about each one of these things and really I think it just helps you put into perspective your own idea's about needs and wants and priorities. For quite a while getting out of debt was very high on our priority list. We had ran up credit cards and gotten loans and most of it was unnecessary. We wanted to pay off our debts so we could start living more within our means and more frugally. We finally paid off our debts, every last penny! We did for a while live fairly frugally. But it really hasn't been a permanent or long term thing. We still have no debt, except for a car loan we unexpectedly had to get BUT frugal living has not been our motto. We tend to spend a bit more than we need/should on non-essentials and "fun" stuff. Now there isn't anything wrong with having a bit of fun EXCEPT when it prevents you from doing other more important things like establishing a savings or working on gathering food storage which our current spending habits have done.
I love that the Lord is patient with me. I have heard the message of frugality, living within our means and simplifying my life to what really matters time and time again. But like my four year old who is told at least 5 times a day not to harass his brother , I don't always get the message the first time or the second for that matter!

thanks Sis

Do you love the new look of my blog? I do! Its all thanks to my sister and her skill with a computer! hehe. Thanks for the new layout Tristan!

To Breastfeed or Not to Breastfeed?

Ugh.. To be completely honest I don't even want to be contemplating this question! I didn't breastfeed my first two kids and had no real desire to do so. With my third baby I wanted to breastfeed and did for about a week. By the end of the week I had bleeding nipples (sorry if that's to much info) and cried in pain every time I picked up my baby girl.That was not how I wanted to feel when I fed my sweet baby. BUT I didn't call a lactation consultant. The girls (my breast) are a fairly private thing for me and having some stranger grab and shove and juggle them in an attempt to help me breastfeed was NOT my idea of a good time. So after a week I cried as I sent my hubby off to the store for bottles and formula.
So tell me after all of that Why oh Why is the thought of nursing creeping into my mind! It was hard and it hurt and this time around my hubby will be deployed and I'll be alone to deal with all of it! Still though breastfeeding is on my mind!
I know that breastfeeding CAN be a wonderful bonding experience for a mother and baby. I know that it is healthiest for baby too. But the thought of doing it again and it hurting and me failing at it is really not a pleasant one. Have you ever felt like Heavenly Father was putting a thought in your head that you really Didn't want to listen too/think about/ pray on? I think I am there =-}

Pardon the Dust!

Please pardon the dust - we're working on remodeling the blog so things will change a lot for a bit!

Thanks!

Just a nice day

Today has been a really nice day. Nothing exciting going on, nothing out of the ordinary. We started summer break in June and we have had a chance to be out enjoying nice weather and doing things as a family a lot. But lately however packing and pregnancy have taken up a fair amount of my energy. Which means the kids have been watching tons of TV. When they weren't watching TV they were complaining of being bored and having nothing to do.
We typically do not take a whole summer off and this is the point at which I would usually end our little summer break and start school again. that is just not an option this year! We will be gone two and a half weeks of July, then back to Washington for two to three weeks which will be full of packing and sending Daddy off on his deployment, Back to Ohio again where we will spend two to three weeks living with Grandma and Grandpa until we move and settle into our own place the first of September! There is just NO chance of starting our official school back up and having any sort of working schedule!!
Since we couldn't just start back off to school but the kids are going crazy with no real set schedule I decided I had to do something. Not a strict schedule really.Just a plan of things to do during the course of the day other than sit in front of the TV.
I read through one of the new Magic Tree House book "Dragon of The Red Dawn" we borrowed from the library. Its a great one about a brother and sister who travel back in time to Japan. They meet Samurai and a poet named Basho who writes haiku poetry and see Mount Fuji.I thought up some fun activities and crafts we could do to go along with the book for the week.
So we got up today and had breakfast with Dad and then we read a couple chapters of our book.We talked over what we had read while we drew a picture of our favorite part of the book so far. Even Hannah got in on the coloring. Of course by the end of it she had more marker on her than on her paper!
Afterwords the kids played for a while and I got some laundry going. Then we did lunch. Hannah went down for her nap and the boys got twenty minutes each of video game time.During video game time I got on the computer to find and print a map of Japan that showed Mount Fuji as well as a world map so that we could see where Japan was compared to where we are.
At the end of video game time the neighbor kids asked if the boys could play in the back yard, so the boys headed out for an hour of backyard fun.
When they made there way back in the boys decided they wanted to play a board game. We grabbed out one of our favorites from Grandma and Grandpa Dino monopoly.
After monopoly we looked at the maps and found Mount Fuji in Japan and colored on the world map North America and Japan then we read a few more chapters of our book.
Now the boys are watching an episode of "Duck Tales" and mommy is having a little computer time before Miss. Hannah makes it up from her nap.
The great thing is that the kids have been so great having fun and playing. not whining, not bickering and NOT watching TV all day!

ITS A GIRL!

Today we had our ultrasound to see just who baby number four is! I love having ultrasounds and getting a chance to get a glimpse inside the womb. My hubby enjoys them to because then the baby seems more real to him. We found out that this little one is a girl! I couldnt be more thrilled. We have two boys age 7 and 4. our daughter Hannah who is 1 1/2 and now she will have a sister! Thats exactly what I was hoping for.
Its funny to me to think about how much I wanted her to have a sister to grow up with and share things with considering how much my own sister and I did NOT get along! Those teen years were just terrible for us! I am sure they were even worse for our mom! Hahaha
But then I look at my relationship with my sister now and I know why I wanted so badly for my little girl to have a sister. My sister is my best friend in every sense of the word. I look up to her and seek her advice when I am struggling and she is the first person I want to share my joys and triumphs with. She is just a really awesome lady and I love her so much.
I just cant believe we are already at this point in the pregnancy, half way! I just so look forward to seeing my new little girl and getting to know who she is and enjoying the blessing that she is in our family!

Time for an update

Not much has been going on in our household but I thought I'd type a post any how! We are still just trying to prepare for Daddy's deployment, our move cross country and the new baby coming. The packing is going fairly well and I hope to have that all done by july. I prefer to pack a little bit each week over a few weeks rather than try to do it all at once. The last minute stuff stresses me out.
We have our ultrasound this week. I love ultrasounds! Seeing the baby in there moving around and finding out the sex of the baby just makes it all seem more real. I dont wait to be surprised at the birth as far as what we are having because I like to start calling the baby by there name, instead of refering to them as "the baby" or worse "it"!
We have planned to take a whole summer off of homeschool because we are busy with all of the aforementioned craziness going on BUT to be honest it is already driving me crazy! The kids need structured time and activities. Now technically that doesnt have to be "homeschool" like math, history and the such. That can be any number of things. SO I am sitting down to work on a schedule for our summer. Some of the included things will be Read aloud time, art project time, outside play and board game time.I will probably also incorporate things to do with helping out. For instance Mondays Isaiah will help with all meal prep and Justin will play with/occupy Hannah during meal prep.We will switch off on the days of the week. I find if we have no schedule at all it becomes "can we watch tv" and "I'm bored" time way too much! So this schedule planning will hopefully help with all that!

I was out in the yard playing with my three kids yesterday. Its early June and we have finished homeschool for the year, we are officially on summer break. The days are getting warmer and so while all the public school kids are sweating it out in a classroom we were out enjoying the early morning cool air.
My neighbor across the way who's yard is butt up against ours came out and asked me the question I knew she would ask eventually. "Umm do you homeschool or something?" you see her daughter was one of those "sweating it out" in the classroom that day. I laughed and told her we do and thats why we got to enjoy the ealy summer vacation and the cooler part of the day. Next came the other question I knew she would ask. I knew she would ask because EVERYBODY askes. "Well how do you make sure they socialize since they arent in school."
A few years back when I first started homeschool I was always nervous to answer peoples questions about our personal education choice. Now that we are a few years in and have seen the beautiful results of our homeschooling coming about I dont even hesitate. I came across a little something today I thought I would share.

"Patricia Lines published an article in July 2000 titled, “Homeschooling Comes of Age.”1 In this paper she cites a controlled study on interpersonal relations in which a researcher videotaped 140 children at play. Half of the children were publicly schooled children and the other half were homeschooled. The counselors who watched the tapes did not know which children were which. The homeschooled children were noted, “to have fewer behavioral problems.”

This study just showcased what I have known all along. I dont want my children "public school socialized" because it generally is NOT a good thing. Throwing a young child into a classroom with twenty five other kids is NOT going to teach them to act appropriately, is NOT going to teach them what its like in "the real world" and is NOT going to give them an independant mind but a mind cotrolled by there peers. That is Not the socialization I want for my children. By homeschooling my children I know who they are with all the time. I as there parent make sure those people are modeling for them appropriate behavior. By homeschooling my kids I teach them about "the real world" by taking them out into it everyday. Because my kids arent with there peers for the majority of there waking hours they learn that what they think is important. Not what Sally in the desk next to them thinks.

Now I believe whole heartedly that everyone has to make the educational choice that is best for there kids. So I dont want to hear any whiny comments about me being Anti public school. I am just letting everyone know why I have chosen homeschool for my kids =-}