Projects

I have been in the mood to do some projects lately. I guess now that B#10 is almost 1 I feel like I am coming out of a year long fog. He still wakes up several times a night to nurse but we have a relatively good schedule. Feeling like fall is coming on also makes me want to do some creative things. Last week before 1/2 of the family left for B#1's Boot Camp graduation, the girls and I started recovering our dining room chairs. My mom sent me some lovely dark plaid fabric which she got for a steal of a deal. It goes so well with my dining room and should hide stains well. I took a before and after picture for you so you can adequately appreciate the difference.

                                                           Before..stains and all

                                                                    After

I love, love, love chalkboard. I have wanted to paint one of my cabinets in my kitchen with chalkboard paint for a couple of years now. I still haven't gotten brave enough to do that but I did find some chalkboard paint looking adhesive backed paper to use for labels on my storage jars and recycleable trashcans.

This was how they were before. I like the way this looks, at least the way it would look in a good picture. If I could combine this with chalkboard that would be lovely.

These were the tools I used to finish this project...

 

 

I also made (with the help of B#4) a burlap table runner but I think I will save pics of that for after I get my fall stuff put on it.

Our First Day of School

For our first day of school, in our Bible Time, we were learning about Creation. We learned that the Hebrew name used for God in the Creation account in Genesis is the name Elohim, which means Creator God. We also learned two Hebrew verbs used in the creation story. Bara, which means to make or create from nothing. We learned that bara is used when God created the earth. We also learned the verb yatsar, which means to form or fashion from a predetermined pattern. I found these things to be so amazing. We know that, despite what Evolutionists would have us to believe, God spoke the world into existence from nothing yet Scripture shows us clearly a few verses later, using the verb yatsar that we as people were formed or fashioned in the plan that He had. We did not form from monkeys or microscopic life.

So for school we made things out of clay and baked them. The kids had a good time and I think Sculpey is a fun medium for them to use. It holds its shape so well, even holding up to my feeble attempts at making a dinosaur for B#8. Then you bake it and it will last, at least until little hands get ahold of it and break it which unfortunately did happen to several of our things.

On a side note, I had an interesting conversation with my daughter-in-law recently about Creation. She was telling us that when she was in Elementary school they went outside with balloons filled with paint. They were instructed by their teacher to throw up the balloon and when it landed and splattered everywhere that was what the Big Bang was like. I asked her if her paint fell in to a rose, or an eyeball or anything other than a disorganized splatter. She confirmed that No it didn't form into anything when it fell. In my opinion where her teacher was trying to teach the Big Bang theory, she was actually confirming Creation. God is a God of order, not disorder and His Word is true and can be trusted.

This verse comes to mind when I think of schools teaching Evolution as fact when in fact it is a theory...Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Galations 6:7

Sticky Bun

B#4 likes to do B#9's hair for her everyday. Our favorite hair style that she does is a messy bun, which daddy affectionately calls a "sticky bun".

More Summer Days

                                                              B#8 pitting cherries

                                                              Playing with Bub

                                                                    Swinging

                                                             Playing in the grass

                                                     A going away party for Bub

                                                                Water gun wars

                                                          Making 4th of July cookies

                                                     Lavender Fest with the girls

                                  And saying Goodbye to Bub before he leaves for the Air Force

Hold On to Your Crown

In my daily devotional today the title was "Hold on to Your Crown". The author is continuing to encourage us as mothers to stay the course. Society as a whole oozes with attitude that what moms do is not valuable, that someone else out there with a degree in children can do a much better job than we can, that we need to find our value in some sort of career outside the home or we are wasting our talents. I pray, as the author does, that we would stay the course of motherhood. That we would use the many gifts and abilities that the Lord has blessed us with in the God-given job of mothering our children. Staying home with our children, teaching them, discipling them is a huge responsibility that we should not take lightly, nor should we turn it over to someone else lightly. My girls all have some idea of what they would like to do when they "grow up" and I think that it is fine to use the gifts and abilities that God has given them in finding ways to serve others even for pay but my prayer for them is that when and if the Lord blesses them with children that they will not give up the blessing of raising them and staying home with them. I believe that there is nothing materially that we can give our children that could ever take the place of raising them and being there for them. They grow us so fast. So as for me...I am going to Hold on to my crown, my crown of motherhood. And I am purposing to delight in it and not let society steal my joy.

Here is the prayer for the day from the devotional:
    "Lord, I thank you that you have given me the crown of mothering. Help me to remember each day that it is a crown of which I can be proud. When I wear this crown I am walking in Your perfect will. Amen."

And a poem:
                                           What is in Thine Hand?
                             
                                 What is that, oh Christian Mother
                                    God hath 'trusted to thy care?
                                 In thine hand to love and nurture,
                                     Sweetly innocent and fair!
                                 What a high and noble priviledge!
                                Bring them up to know God's Word;
                                  They in turn will call thee blessed
                                When they've learned to trust the Lord!

                                               Mary A. Haydon

Finally Feels Like Summer

Here in OR it takes a while to feel like summer. Yesterday was the first day of summer and it actually has felt like summer here. Tomorrow may be a different story but for now we are enjoying summer days. Our garden is finally sprouting and doing well for now. DH built me a couple of raised beds which I am enjoying much more than a huge garden.

Today the kids and I went strawberry picking at a local U-pick farm. We picked 100lbs of strawberries. It really goes quickly with lots of hands picking. I give all the credit to the kids since I only managed to pick one bowl full before having to put the baby in the backpack. It is really hard to pick strawberries with a baby in a back pack. Once we got home we had the big task of doing something with said strawberries. We froze a good bit, made a strawberry pancake syrup, blended some up for making jam tomorrow and are attempting to dehydrate some. I am not sure how that is going to turn out yet. They are still pretty mushy but if it works out it will be neat to have them around for snacking or adding to oatmeal and granola bars.

20 Common Ways Parents Provoke Their Children to Wrath

The Bible tells us as parents not to provoke our children to wrath. I recently found this list that I keep in my Bible and wanted to share it with you...I got it from an old magazine. I have not looked up all the Scripture references yet so feel free to do that and let me know if you find some you disagree with.

1. By exhibiting anger (Proverbs 22:24-25)
2. By not having marital harmony (Genesis 2:24, Hebrews 12:15)
3. By disciplining in anger (Psalm 6:1, 38:1)
4. By being inconsistent with discipline (Ecclesiastes 8:11)
5. By having double standards (Matthew 23:1-4, Philippians 4:9)
6. By not admitting when wrong (Matthew 5:23-26, Job 32:2, James 5:16
7. By constantly finding fault (Job 32:2-3)
8  By reversing God-given roles (Eph. 5:22-24, Genesis 3:16 )
9. By not listening to your children's opinion or their side of the story (Proverbs 18:13,17)
10. By comparing them to others (2 Corinthians 10:12)
11 .By not taking time to talk with them (Eph.5:16)
12. By not praising your children (2 Cor. 2:6-8; Revelation 2, 3)
13. By failing to keep promises (Matt. 5:27, Colossians 3:9, Psalm 15:4)
14. By scolding them in front of others ( Matt.18:15, John 21:15-17)
15. By being too strict (James 3:17)
16 .By giving them too much freedom (Proverbs 29:15, Galatians 4:1-2)

17 .By making fun of your children (Job 17:1-2
18. By abusing them physically (1Timothy 3:3, Titus 1:7, Numbers 22)
19. By calling them names (Eph. 4:29)
20. By having unrealistic expectations (1 Cor. 13:11)