Well, I just can't seem to get far into Lorna Doone. Maybe my life will still be complete if I never do read that book. Ya think?

But I have been reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. I want to read it slowly because I feel like I really need to get all I can out of it. In recent years I just haven't felt the closeness with Christ that I used to. I feel dry and tired on the inside a good amount of time. I know the book can't give me refreshment back in my life, but I want to really practice what I read.

But I came across this quote today:

If we are to progress in the spiritual walk so that the disciplines are a blessing not a curse, we must come to the place in our lives where we can lay down the everlasting burden of always needing to manage others. This drive, more than any single thing, will lead us to turn the Spiritual Disciples into laws. Once we have made a law, we have an "externalism" by which we judge who is measuring up and who is not. With out laws the disciplines are primarily an internal work, and it is impossible to control an internal work. When we genuinely believe that inner transformation is God's work and not ours, we can cut to rest the passion to set others straight.

We must beware of how quickly we can latch onto this word or that word and turn it into law. The moment we do so we qualify for Jesus' stern pronouncement against the Pharisees: They bind heavy burdens on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger" (Matt. 23:4) In these matters we need the words of the apostle Paul embedded in our minds: "We deal not in the letter but in the spirit. The latter of the law leads to the death of the soul; the Spirit of God alone can give life to the soul." (2 Cor. 3:6 Phillips).

Oh isn't that so true! As soon as I tell one of my boys something the first thing they do is to say "Well, so and so did that." The last thing they want to do is address their own behavior! It's always so and so!

But the flip side of that is that we can also be on the receiving end of another person who feels like it is their ministry to set the rest of the world in order. They don't approve of your clothes, schedule, TV watching, standard of education, etc. etc. etc. And if you even maybe have two or three people in your life like that if you don't set yourself to protect yourself that can get very burdensome indeed. Especially if the advice conflicts!

Sometimes I feel like I walk around with one big guilt trip. But I feel like the Lord is telling me that the reason I feel guilty is because I haven't been spending enough time with Him. So He can speak to me about the things that aren't actually His will for me and also the things I really ought to feel guilty about. I need to spend more time with the Lord. That is just the bottom line. It is good to spend time with others, get work done, all of that, but with out His sweet presence we can work ourselves to a fury going in entirely the wrong direction. We can use our time of fellowship leading others in the wrong direction as well-maybe all the while thinking we are helping them get their life together! I need the Lord. I am looking forward to some time of quietness with Him.

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

William Cowper

I love this hymn.  I love to be reminded that God is behind all our circumstances.  I want to look for the good He is doing in everything, even when I am tempted to think He is frowning at me.  He is really smiling over us and wanting to bless His children.  How much trouble we could spare ourselves if we could just trust Him and be happy!

From the Net Hymnal

I decided to start a new blog. I'm over here. Something about a fresh pallet, a blank canvas, I dunno. Anyway, I've actually posted, so if you're so inclined..

Well, all my chicks are home and under one roof again. Sigh of relief. They came home, happy to be back, with lots of presents to pass around and all the excitement of the younger siblings gathering round to hear about their adventures. Which really sound pretty mundane-they were visiting their great aunt after all. But they did get to go to Knottsberry farm which got good reviews. Other than that it sounds like they swam a lot and got a good dose of television (scary) and community fund raisers. They've been home a week and we are settling down into fall and routine and schoolwork and so forth. I like things mundane like that.

Shay and I have worked on revamping our household schedule. We got a bit sloppy over the summer, I must confess. I gave her the things we need to get done and she wrote it up. Which means I keep turning to her and asking "How long does cleaning time last?" and stuff like that. Roughly, this is how our day looks:

Get up at 6:00, get your coffee, tea, wash your face with cold water, whatever you need to do to come to family devotions AWAKE, please. :)

6:30-Family devotions. We are currently working on a Bible study that our church wrote for Sunday School on 1 John.

7:30-Breakfast preparations, clean up rooms, brush teeth, get dressed etc. Shay makes breakfast, I supervise the boys and the rest do their own jobs.

8:00-Breakfast-I also do the boys' catechism questions at breakfast. We are working on the "Catechism for young children" which is based on the Westminster, but more simply worded for children.

8:30-House cleaning time. Everyday we clean a different section of the house on rotation so the whole house (Theoretically speaking) gets cleaned each week.

10:00-School time. Shayleen is homeschooling my three middle girls and I am teaching the boys. But since the girls know what they are supposed to do, Shay doesn't have to be right there all day, so she stays downstairs with me for a little while. I keep one boy with me and we do phonics, practice reading and math. One little boy is at the table and he may color, play with clay, paint or be read to. And one little boy plays on the rug with Joseph, doing Lincoln Logs, blocks, Legos, etc. Joseph is being trained to have "rug time."

12:00-clean up, and Irene and Fiona make lunch.

12:30-eat. I read aloud at this time too. Right now I am reading Morning Star of the Reformation by Andy Thomson, about John Wycliffe.

1;00-clean up lunch mess

1:20-Quiet time-the older children have their own Bible time during this time and the little boys rest.

2:30-Finish schoolwork

3:00-Practice instruments

3:30-Free time

5:00-Make dinner

The time to eat dinner is tricky, my husband has a very sporadic schedule, being self employed. He could be home at 4:00 (though not often) or he could be out till nine. And I never know from day to day. Some days we wait dinner for him, and sometimes we just go ahead and eat. It just depends on how late he is and how well the little boys are holding up.

Evening time lately has mostly been reading aloud form Martin Rattler by R.M. Ballentyne. He's rather like Henty-a good boy adventure type book, but so far (and this is the first book we've read by him) we like him better. It seems like his characters are a little better developed and the story line less predictable. I will be getting more of his. This one is about a boy and his Irish sailor companion who are stranded in Brazil. The kids have really enjoyed the descriptions of the animals there. Though at one point he talks about Anacondas eating cows. Now could this really happen? He says the snakes can't swallow the horns so it sticks out of his throat until the horns fall off and then he finishes swallowing it. I have my doubts. A book we checked out about Anacondas said they are usually 10 feet long. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

I had an appointment with my midwife last week and my blood pressure had gone up 10 points. She said I'm stressing about the election (and the economic news as well) and I need to stop or else! *gulp*. She is also having me eat 150 grams of protein a day. Now that is A LOT of protein! I haven't made it yet I'm afraid, but I've been over 100 and it makes me feel so full. Rand is supposed to be bringing me home some protein powder so I can supplement with shakes. Hopefully that will be the ticket because I don't know how on earth I could make it otherwise-I feel like all I am eating is nuts, cheese, meat, cottage cheese, etc. But I will do it, because I want a nice, quiet, tame home birth like the Lord has blessed us with so many times before. So, I must, I must! I am also taking lots of calcium.

I have really been trying not to worry. Sometimes I do though. There is so much in our nation to be thankful for and I am thankful for the quiet little bits of home life and family the Lord has given us on this earth. Really He is so very good to give us the sweetness of babies, husbands, being able to take care of them and read them His word, mostly unhindered. We have taken so much for granted. Always grasping for more and not being content and joyful in what He provides. I pray many will turn from the grasping at the wind that all this financial chasing is and really turn to things that are real and eternal and make investments where they really matter-in the hearts of their families and neighbors and friends.. Maybe?

But one thing to remember-the news media profits off fear. Remember that.

Sarah Palin.. How could anyone spark so much controversy on one side and so much enthusiasm on another? There is so much disagreement over this one person.. I suppose the lines drawn are fairly typical in the Christian blogging world. Vision Forum, Carmon, and that side of the Christian world being agin', Doug Wilson, and of course a lot of others being for. In some ways I can get a little overwhelmed by all the controversy swirling around. I'm trying to boil it down to the things I feel pretty sure of. For one thing, I don't buy the argument that women are never to have authority over men. I do accept the roles of men and women in a marital situation, and also in the service of the church. These seem pretty clear in scripture and also have an illustrative purpose in modeling God's relationship with mankind. These we best not fool with. But I don't think that that automatically leads to a fact of being a 'gender twist' that a woman can be over a man in civil structure, or a work situation. And as to judging to whether she is being submissive to her own husband (which could be kind of arrogant, for us to presume we can judge her heart on this at all.) well, if he is supporting and even encouraging her to run, is she not acting with her husband's blessing? If we say that the husband is the one to make decisions for his family, then ought we not practice that and allow him to make that judgement for his family?

I'm not saying that the fact that she has children doesn't give me pause. I'm just saying I don't buy some of what's being said.

It really does bother me, as I read some of what is being written, the snideness of some of the comments. Quoted from the Vision Forum website (who are in turn quoting Worldnet Daily, who is quoting a home school mother)in regards to Todd Palin..

In fact, he recently hosted a tea for former first ladies of the state at the governor’s mansion in Juneau. I wonder if he held his pinkie upright as he sipped from his demitasse cup.

Yeah right. How snide. And I have to wonder if you chuckled to yourself over the cleverness of your own comment when you wrote that.

The way I see it is this. There is a job opening coming up that must be filled. There are two applicants. And one is light years more qualified, more ready and more in line with how I believe the job should be done than the other. Neither were my first pick, but I didn't get my first pick (or second, or third, or fourth..) this time around. So I make the best decision with what I have and get on with it.

I get tired of being typed by some as compromises, sold out to the Republican party etc. I could not in good conscience let my vote sit idle and have Obama win without a fight. I just couldn't.

There also seems to me to be a bit of an arrogance in some of the arguments going around. As though the white and cleanness of one's own personal holiness is more important than getting dirty in the fight. For example. No, John McCain is not purely pro-life. But he would appoint more constitutional judges. I doubt he would go in for tax funded abortions. I doubt we would see abortion programs done in foreign countries as we did during the Clinton years. (At least with US backing) I'm quite certain that there would be less abortions under a McCain presidency than an Obama. But we have it said round about that if you're not "all pro-life, you're not pro-life at all, therefore I (being the speaker) can't vote for McCain. So tell that to the babies who would be at risk under an Obama presidency who wouldn't be as much so under a McCain. You couldn't get your hands dirty and vote for someone who didn't line up with everything you wanted? Your personal feeling of sanctity was more important? I don't buy that kind of sanctity.

And I don't buy the argument that things have to get worse in order to get better. Or maybe if things get really bad, people will wake up. I read one comment on one blog that said she'd rather have an Obama presidency and the church praying fervently for revival than a McCain presidency and everyone just going on with life as usual. But sin is deceptive. It doesn't always come that people wake up when things get worse and worse. Look at countries that lived under communism and how even still the people have a nostalgia for the old days. Look at countries that have fallen and sludged along in poverty for hundreds of years and still they don't turn in large wholesale repentance. One doesn't always follow the other. By the grace of God it may, but I don't think we better plan on that.

Besides, if you follow that line of reasoning, we should never work to make anything better, for ourselves or our children, because as soon things got better, the people's hearts get worse!

Well, for all that, there's some of my thoughts. And now I better go make dinner.

Mexican chicken over rice and salad. What are you having? :)

Wednesday my oldest two set out on an airplane to go to California and spend a couple weeks with an aunt. This is the longest and farthest either have ever been from home. I hope they're having fun and doing alright.



Boy I miss Shay. I didn't expect it. I knew it would be inconvenient to have them gone, because they are my two legal babysitters and all. But the first day they were gone I just moped and felt like crying all day. Elisa has been sweet, trying to step up and be the oldest daughter and all. It's been cute to watch her do that. She always tries to be helpful. But she is pretty soft spoken and the boys don't take her very seriously. Shay has more of an iron will about her that they obey her better. I guess being the oldest, she's had to. She's my comrade in arms in the war to keep order around here.

Yesterday my midwife came. When she listened to the heartbeat she said, "Sounds like a good strong boy!"

Today I'm feeling all tuckered out so I decided to spend the day sewing. I finished a pair of denim bloomers I had started for Fiona and now I'm trying to make a skirt for Elisa. I tried making it without a pattern because I didn't have the kind of pattern I wanted. I wanted it to be more of a circle skirt with swing to it but I didn't have enough fabric to do a full circle. So far it just isn't turning out right. Argh. I don't get those women who can sew without patterns. What is wrong with me that I can't do it too? Especially since I don't really follow them. I guess I'm that way with cooking too. I hardly follow the recipe right on, but I do like to have the frame work laid out.

As usual the house completely falls apart when I sew. Sometimes I wonder why I do it at all. It does seem like it would just be easier to go ahead and buy stuff. But that can be frustrating too, trying to find styles I like and things that will find my very slender daughters. So I guess both have their draw backs.

Well, back to the drawing.. err.. sewing machine..

A friend of my daughters sent this to her and I just had to post it. :)

*Warning* I'm going to be a little opinionated here...

In our media rich society, there are always these little sayings that go around that are supposed to convey some sort of truth, but really they are just the repeating of what someone else has said which some one else said, etc. Like "Well, if you raise those children strict like that, they'll rebel when they get older" or "Children need to learn socialization skills from other children". They aren't exactly cliches, because the wording changes, but they are this sort of widely accepted truth that people just tend to accept without really considering whether they are actually true or not.

One of the ones that goes around a lot in Christian political talk is that a vote for McCain is a vote "for the lesser of two evils". That just really, really sets my teeth on edge. Does the speaker repeating this HONESTLY believe that John McCain is evil? I mean truly in the accurate definition of the word? I disagree with McCain on some things, but I cannot believe anyone thinking clearly could call him a truly evil man. Hitler was truly evil. Stalin. Saddam Hussein. These are truly evil men. John McCain may have some political ideas that don't jive with me. And yes, I do think he's a bit self seeking and he is reported to have a bad temper. But would any of us want to be called EVIL on that basis? I know I can have some of those same faults myself from time to time.

We expect that kind of rhetoric from the left. The more extreme of their members see no problem going around blasting everyone with the label "Hitler" and "Nazi" My stars, if the world were really as full of Hitlers as they seem to think we would be in deep trouble indeed! But we are called to be more careful with our words. We should measure accurately what we say. We trivialize true evil when we just apply it all over with such a broad brush. But we say this with such ease, to call this man evil. So.. could we lay off this "lesser of two evils" thing? (At least in my hearing?) And stick to the real issues?

There, got that bee out of my bonnet.

Sorry, Amy...

I guess if I'd known that I wouldn't get a chance to post in a while, I wouldn't have picked that as my last entry... Ahhh, well...

My midwife came today. It was my first appointment, which is probably scandalous by modern medicine standards. That is, that I waited so long to call her-but she wasn't surprised. When I called she said "Well, when are you due, next week?" Ahem. I'm not quite that bad. Almost maybe. But everything's fine, so far. She will test my sugar in three weeks, which I know is my weak area, so I just try to avoid it.

Everybody in the house-yes, even the boys-is determined that this baby SHALL BE a girl. I think I am the only one who thinks that if it is a boy it won't be that bad. :) I finally got Rand to even talk about boy names the other night, as if having a name on hand could open the possibility of this baby being a boy where it wouldn't otherwise. We (well, he, as there is only one name he is willing to consider) finally decided on a boy name, while the girl name has been picked for.. umm.. years? :)

Boys. They are a lot of work. Mine sometimes remind me of marauding little savages running through the house. And it isn't the same if you only have one. Sorry, but it just isn't. Forrest was a breeze, when he was the only boy among all my girls. But get two or three of them together, well that's just another thing. The competition over territory, the energy, the fight for supremacy.. It's just something else. I was brought up with one sister. Watching these little guys is just kind of a fascination.. Like another planet.

We finally have a pet! Haha. Forrest found this beautiful guy under the wood pile outside. He's a Hobo spider, a relative of the brown recluse. The kids put him in a jar because they were so convinced that Mrs. Darling and especially Peter would appreciate being able to say hello to him. I'm not quite as sure the gesture will be appreciated, but for now the jar is in my kitchen, he is being fed flies and every time I reach for a plate.... there he is on the shelf. :)

126 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

This was on a newsletter our mortgage guy sends out and it cracked me up.

"I have always been among those who believed that the greatest
freedom of speech was the greatest safety, because if a man is a fool, the best thing to do is encourage him to advertise the fact by speaking" Woodrow T. Wilson

This has been about the busiest summer we have ever had. I have started to post a few times, but then get called to do something else, put it in drafts, and by the time I come back it seems outdated.

We went to visit friends at the coast for the 4th. Here's Owen looking mighty pleased with his hotdog...

There was a lot of smoke owing to the multitude of campfires and illegal fireworks. That is, illegal in Oregon, but not in Washington, which makes the law rather mute. I think babykin's eyes are bothering him a little.

There was a birthday party for Grandma...

A wedding...

None of those kids are mine, but I thought that was a pretty nice picture of Luke doing a back flip.. Or something..

Softball games, and water ballon fights following...

A birthday party for Elisa..

Whew.. And there were a couple other birthday parties that we didn't get pictures at.. It's been a good summer. It gets hot for a couple days at a time and then cools off, Hubby has been working on remodeling the bathroom, the yard is starting to take shape the way I want it too, all in all there's a lot to be thankful for.

What has your summer been like?

Marbel tagged me:

The rules:1. Post the rules at the beginning.2. Answer the questions only about yourself.3. At the end of the post, tag five people and post their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment so they know they’ve been tagged. Ask them to read the sender's blog.4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

So, OK, here we go...

What were you doing five years ago?

Living in Sellwood, ( I miss Sellwood. Especially in the summer..) in Portland. It will be 5 years for us at RCC next month, so I guess we would be in our first year there.. Noah would be the baby,probably pregnant with Zeke? (I haven't had coffee yet so my math isn't so good) homeschooling, diapers, mostly the same stuff just different house and different baby.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?

Phonics with the boys
Clean the basement
Make bread (hopefully)
Laundry
Hopefully work on teaching Elisa to sew. She has a dress she is working on and Shay is out of town so there is no school for the girls this week..

What are five snacks you enjoy?

Chips and salsa
Ice cream
Carrots and ranch dip
Anything chocolate
Anything coffee

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire? Oh, goodness.. Um..

I would really like to adopt at least a couple kids
Get a bigger house, with more yard for my boys
Get an RV and travel around the US with the kids. Let them see all the really awesome things in this country and meet interesting people
Help people in real life I know could use the help
Make the investments in my kids' education I would like to make, like a nice auto cad program for Forrest and art supplies, stuff like that

What are five of your bad habits?

Spider solitaire
Worrying
I don't follow rules well
Hate, hate doing paperwork
Snacking instead of sitting and eating real food

What are five places where you have lived? Oh, now, this is gonna be boring.

Tacoma, Washington (as a kid)
Hillsboro, Oregon
Outer SE Portland, Oregon
Inner SE Portland, Oregon
Inner NW Portland, Oregon

Well, you get the idea. I haven't been very far from home. :)

What are five jobs you’ve had?
Courtesy clerk @ Safeway
Window washing
Muffin baker @ Great Harvest Bread Co.
Books @ Christian supply
mom

I'm supposed to tag 5 people. Hmm.. Well, that looks like you. Tag, you're it. :) See, I never was very good at following rules. :)

Here are a couple pictures of Zeke and his cast. This is when it was all bright and new, though. The doctor did say he could walk on it, but I think he underestimated how much walking a busy little boy can do! In a week and a half it was worn through on the bottom and the bandages were hanging out the sides, kind of looked like the lepers in old Biblical movies looked. :) So finally Rand decided to cut the thing off, about a week early and we just made him stay in shoes all the time to keep his foot still. Well, praise God, he went to the doctor and they said it heald up nicely, so that little tauma in his little life is over.

Stacy McDonald at Your Sacred Calling has posted an article by another writer, Sonny Scott. It highlights a quirk of human nature that I have been mulling over in my mind lately, but he talks about it so much more directly than I could have. Specifically, how we human beings have tendency to resent those who have done a better job at something than we ourselves. In this case he's talking about home schoolers, but it certainly isn't homeschooling alone that brings this out in people. Take housekeeping for example. Isn't amazing how resentful we women can be about other women who are good housekeepers? "Well, I decided that being a good mother is more important than being a good housekeeper." "She must be really uptight." "I'm just a more creative person than that." Even down to buying a plaque for our walls that say "A clean house is a sign of a sick mind." Oh good grief. Probably the reason her house is clean is because she makes it a priority and works at it!

When I first discovered homeschooling, I couldn't believe everybody wouldn't want to do it. I could see children being liberated in droves, schools emptying like a public pool when summer vacation is over. I talked about it with a lot of enthusiasm to anyone with ears. Pretty soon I did have to realize that this "good news" was not always well received by everyone. The very fact that I saw any fault with the status quo was interpreted by some as having a judgemental attitude. I'm not saying this is true of everyone who decided to do something different from me, but those who had to smear my character whether mentally or vocally to justify their own position.

I've also noticed that those who do this are most likely the ones who for whatever reason are unhappy with the way their children have turned out. Usually if people are content with their decisions and happy with the results they don't have to grudge someone else being happy with their own as well. If I'm financially content, I don't have to be envious of someone else's good fortunes, I am free to rejoice with those who rejoice. But if I am secretly (or maybe not so secretly) harboring regrets, envy, resentment or whatever, I probably won't be able to be genuinely happy for my neighbor when he gets a new boat. Just the same, if I am feeling defensive or unhappy with my children and how they've turned out, than when someone else's kid is doing impressive things, had a good relationship with his parents and tucks in his shirt tails to boot... Well..

Often it is just so easy rather than to face my own failings it is much easier just to lash out with criticism at the other. "Just look at that smile. There's pride in there somewhere." "They think they are better than the rest of us." "They've made an idol out of their family." "They are most certainly judging me." (Probably they spend a lot less time thinking about me than I think!) We would all be a lot better off if we knew how to graciously be happy for other people, acknowledge God's sovereignty and get over it!

Now I'm not talking about people who make different decisions. There are complexities to people's decisions that we may not be familiar with. It isn't up to any of us, unless it's in our sphere of power, to make a full assessment of what other people are doing. At least not the areas where there is Biblical liberty-not out and out sin, of course. We don't really always know the heart motives involved. Though I AM a firm believer in examining the fruits we see in areas, such as educational choices, and make decisions based on what we observe. That we all must do.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Don't let me take up your time. Go read the article.

Why have I not posted in so long? I don't know. I get out of the habit I guess. I wish I had a set time to sit down and post each day, but I don't. I have to catch the computer when I can, and hope there is something in my head to say. Sometimes I wonder why I keep the blog, but it really isn't because I have such a ton of profound stuff to say anyway, or because my life is all that interesting, but because it is nice if even occasionally I get to "get about" and touch base with all of you. :)

Lately I've been jumping about to a lot of "crafty mom" blogs. I admire women who don't just get the job done in being a housewife and mom but really make an art form of it. It's inspiring. I love to look at brightly colored fabrics and cute decorating ideas and such. Here are some of my favorites.. All Sorts (my daughters like this one too), Portabellopixie (a fabric designer to make me drool, drool, drool. Especially her new Farmer's Market line.), HELLOmynameisHeather, (More luscious fabric. Where do I rob a bank so I can get me yards and yards of this stuff?) Turkey Feathers, and Block-a-Day, because I love quilts. At least these are the blogs I've added to my favorites folder, but what I really like to do is go to one with a long list of links and scuttle all over the place and drool over the creative, beautiful things these women do and dream of being able to do them too. And I probably would if I didn't waste so bloody much time on the computer! I love all the needle arts, too. Embroidery, quilting, knitting, crochet. But usually when I get around to sitting down to doing something it is of a more practical turn of mind. Shay needs a good all around the house type denim skirt, I have a blouse cut out for Elisa of some fabric the neighbor lady gave me, bloomers are needed by all the girls-but Shayleen. She is past bloomer age now. Doesn't go down the slide at the park so much anymore... I do have a scrap quilt that I've been working on for Irene, but its been going for 2 years now. She always seems to need play jumpers more. I am knitting a sweater for Joseph. I have failed at everything I've knitted beyond scarves. I swore it off earlier this year. But I have been sick so much this last couple months I just wanted something I could sit and do with my hands and not feel like I was being idle. I hate to feel like I'm being idle. So I'm making him this sweater, and hoping I get done in time for it to fit him in the fall.

I guess if I don't it can be for the next baby. But I think I will get it done.

Also, completely on a different subject, I found this video via Large Family Mothering encouraging Germans to have more children. Interesting, huh?

Well, I better go tend to mine.

How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No. A woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.

Chesterton

Last Saturday my oldest three got to go fly in airplanes with another family in our church...

It was a 2 hour wait-good thing they brought cards..

F. buckling up

From the sky..

S. and her friend going up..

At one point they called us because F. was passing over our house. It was fun for the little kids to be able to go out and wave.

I was wondering if F. would come home wanting to be a pilot. But no, it was fun, but he didn't seem to want to make it a career option. And E. got air sick (just a little) so I guess that's out for her too. Just kidding.

Legalist: Someone who disapproves of something I feel at liberty to do.

Liberal: Someone who does something I don't feel at liberty to do.

:)