Happy Resurrection Day!

Ten Months...

...and she has broken the streak.

Each of her older siblings had begun to walk between 9 and 10 months, and I really thought Caroline would, too. But she's still dropping to her knees when she wants to get somewhere. Maybe she just wants to hold onto being the baby for as long as she can. Everyone loves to carry her about, so I guess we can't blame her.

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It's now the time of year for yard work to begin around here, and I bet you can imagine the groaning we hear on a Saturday morning when it's time to get busy.

However, something happened between the time the announcement was made to those unwilling laborers and the time these photos were taken. Any guesses?

No, no bribery.

No threats either.

Just a few words from a wise dad who knows his children well. When I walked out the front door to check on the progress, I found Cade furiously swinging the mattock. I asked Stephen how things were going, and he informed me that Cade was digging a moat around the castle because the enemies were soon to attack. He was working hard to get it done before they arrived.

Amazing. I have never seen the boy work so hard. But kindle his imagination, and, wow, look at him go!!

Luke absolutely wanted in on the action then when he saw what fun Cade was having. In fact, they were actually disputing whose turn it should be. But between the two of them, they dug the trench all the way around one side of the house (castle).  

 

And not to worry, Daddy had a task for Little Miss Cupcake too. She was to protect the pretty flowers by ripping out the big, bad weeds. Gotta keep the flowers safe! She worked hard at that...for a little while anyway.

And as for the photo below, she also worked hard to get that shovel in the ground just right so she could stand on it. But I bet you know where this story is going... 

Yeah, you got it. Rakes and shovels...they're all alike, right?

A Trip to the Farm with Friends

We took a field trip today to a local farm where the kids enjoyed seeing some baby animals. There were also some very pregnant mamas who looked like they might give birth at any moment (a goat and cow). They petted the piglets and the horses, but mostly they just had fun hanging out with their friends.

He looks pretty serious here,
but this little guy gives
the best smiles.

As we were about to snap this photo of the kids together, another mom with a toddler asked us, "Are they all yours?" I guess eight kids looks like a lot - a lot of rowdiness!

Sweet friendship

Silly faces!

This one was for Aunt Kelli.

Road Trip

Here are a few pictures from our Pennsylvania trip last week.

We stopped to see some dear friends in Lancaster, and Elsa had her picture taken with Elsa!

We also made another stop to meet my new niece! She pretty much slept through the visit, but we enjoyed cuddling her for a little while.

Five of the Smith grandbabies

Uncle Dan was at work and missed Elsa's
version of his mustache.

Holding on for dear life!!

I don't know how she could sleep like this.

Some kind of record!

I just read two whole books in less than two weeks. Now in my days as a single young woman, that was nothing. I often read whole books in a day. But in the days of this homeschooling-mom-of-four-children who rarely picks up a book unless it's for reading to the kids, I just set some kind of record. I'm sure of it. 

What sort of books caught my attention? I thought you might ask. 

A friend recently attended a talk by Andrew Pudewa called "Teaching Boys and Other Kids Who Like to Build Forts All Day." At her recommendation, I've since listened to the mp3 available online. Mr. Pudewa references a lot of information from Dr. Leonard Sax and his book called Why Gender Matters. Maybe this is old news to some of you. The book has been around for eight or so years now. But maybe, like me, you knew that gender does matter; you just didn't know why. This book gives lots of reasons why it does matter, especially in relation to education and the methods commonly used in our education system.

So I got the other book called Boys Adrift and found myself equally engrossed. So much to understand!

I didn't agree with everything that the doctor put forward in relation to discipline methods, but the science explaining the differences between male and female brains was fascinating. Positively fascinating. I kept stopping and reading parts aloud to Stephen. I think he was getting bored with it, but I couldn't help myself!

I'm not going to outline the whole book(s) for you, but I'll just mention a few "take-homes" that might be helpful. 

1.  Boys are vastly over-diagnosed with ADHD and medicated (to their future detriment) when the "problem" is not the kid but the school. Boys learn and develop differently than girls do, and our school systems are not set up to work very well with these differences. Thus, normal boys are ending up in doctors' and psychologists' offices because they can't do what most girls and a few boys are capable of - sitting still and working quietly for hours a day at age 5 or 6.

2.  Plastic water (and soda, etc) bottles are HARMFUL. The BPA and phthalates in them are linked to early puberty onset in girls and late puberty onset in boys. Bad! Bad! Bad!!  We're stocking up on Klean Kanteen stainless steel bottles. (PS - They're having a good sale right now!)

3.  Video games have a profoundly negative effect on some boys. Not all boys have a tendency to a lack of motivation, but those who do can be drawn into the "other world-ness" of video games and lose touch with the real world.  The author doesn't propose that we as parents completely ban video games but that we carefully examine the games our kids are playing and limit the time they are permitted to play. Actually, I felt that his limits were too generous (he's ok with playing on school days; we allow Saturdays only for a short while). 

Ok, that's my wee synopsis.  You'll have to go and read the book to get the rest of it. I've got the girl version called Girls on the Edge on hold at the library right now and can't wait to go pick it up. If I get hold of it tomorrow, I might even squeeze in 3 books in 3 weeks!! Now that would definitely be a record!

Spring Break and Spring Cleaning

At the end of the morning last Friday I announced that this week would be spring break for us. After all, we have spotted a crocus or two in the backyard. And I had great plans for spring cleaning - which for me means a better, deeper cleaning than what I ordinarily get done in a week. I know for some people that involves a lot more than what I'd include, but these days I'm just happy to have the whole house clean at.one.time. So no washing down walls or anything...just dusting baseboards and window blinds and washing windows in addition to the regular stuff.

The kids were strong-armed into helping with their own rooms, but then they wanted to spend the remainder of their time playing on the tree that is lying in the backyard.

They were also spotted trying to spark a fire by
rotating a stick in a small hole. Great. Better
hide the magnesium fire starter because I have
just enough experience with kids who play with
fire to know these things. 

Anyway, we lost a pin oak tree over the last year due to disease, and we finally brought it down over the weekend. A kind (and crazy!) neighbor took the tree down for us. There were a few hairy moments watching him climb forty feet up the tree to strap himself onto it. We thought he was just going to go to the top of the ladder and cut off some branches to make felling it easier. But thankfully, he made it up and down again in one piece. There was lots of praying involved, I assure you!

This would be the neighbor in the tree.

The neighbor is safely back on the ground
using a chainsaw to notch the tree while
another neighbor and my husband watch.

Making some progress.

Getting ready to "guide" the tree down where
they want it.

She's really excited by all
the action!

Soon!

Done. Whew!! And everyone is safe.

So the tree came down, and the kids are having a blast climbing all over it. It reminds me of the things my brother and sister and cousins and I did on Grandpa's farm as kids. The trees that my uncle and Grandpa and dad fell were bigger ones, and we had a great time playing on them once they were on the ground. I'm glad my kiddos are getting some "country kid" experiences even though we're smack-dab in the middle of suburbia. And I'm beginning to get a taste of what my mom went through when we all dragged our tired selves in the house covered in mud...just a taste, though, mind you. These kids only have a fallen tree in the backyard; we had an entire farm!

Of course, because I didn't already have enough cleaning to do, yesterday Elsa begged to paint. As you might guess, I had more cleaning (and laundry) to do afterwards. She was trying to turn herself into the Incredible Hulk, she claims. And I'm silently shaking my head, taking a deep breath...and holding my tongue. After all, our most recent memory verse says, "Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble." (Prov. 21:23) And I've got to teach by example.

After the painting session, it was back outside for some more fun climbing on the tree. Actually, Elsa spent more time collecting acorn tops "for the squirrels" and piling them on the patio table. Caroline just enjoyed the wind and watching the boys jumping around on the tree.  

Flyaway hair!

This is the look she gives me every
time I get her up from her bed.
I can't get enough of it!

 

Love her chubby cheeks.

This boy is the one who already fell
and knocked his head. 

 

Weapons of all sorts!

See?

She liked seeing herself in the
patio window too.

Part of spring cleaning, though, has been my effort at cleaning out toxic cleaning supplies and replacing them with safe ones. I've learned how to make my own, and it's actually made cleaning easier and more pleasant (scrubbing the shower floor was so much easier with this scouring powder). I haven't replaced everything yet (I'm going to use up that whole container of toilet-bowl cleaner I bought at Costco so as not to just waste the $$ spent on it), but I plan to soon. You can check out this link if you're interested (also here).  

From the same site I've also found recipes for making personal care items like lotions and moisturizers and toothpaste! Wooo-whee! I've gone crunchy, I think. First essential oils - now this! My husband says I've gone "new age" (and technically, I guess he might be right according to the dictionary definition), but I claim it's "old age" since it's only been in the last hundred or so years that people have used so many toxic, chemical-laden products. :-) Anyway, I hope to replace a lot of what we're using with safer products.

I'm hoping to add a lot more veggies to our diet as well, and I've been trying to do just that. But the attempt at getting the kids to eat sweet potatoes (even in a casserole with butter and all the rest of the stuff that makes them really yummy) was nearly a total flop (nearly because Cade did eat some willingly). And the green veggie slaw that I made was tasty...even the neighbors took some home...but the kids were pretty resistant to that, too.

I guess it'll take time (baby steps, right?), and hopefully I'll stick to my resolve to eat better (I say as I just demolished the last bit of a bag of chocolate chips - ahem). But I've eaten fewer chocolate chips this week than I did last week and the week before, so that's progress, I say. And I'm trying hard to remember that there's only so much we can sanely do, so there's to be no guilt over the rest. No guilt! After all, if we are in Christ, he's already born all of our guilt.