A Joke

So here's the joke of the day (month) at our house:

A little girl comes to her father and asks, "Dad, why did you you name me 'Rose'!" To which the father replied, "Well, when you were born, a rose petal fell on your head, so we named you Rose?"

A second child came to the father and asked, "Dad, why did you name me Robin?" The father replied, "Well, son, when you were born, a robin came and landed on your head."

A third child came up to the father and grunted. The father said, "What's that Cinder Block?"

I didn't say it was a good joke ... just one that's been circulating around our house.

Homeschool Group Meeting

This week I spoke to the homeschool group in Northfield. I was originally asked to speak on preparing homeschool students for college. (I've given seminars on this topic.) However, when I found that most of the children in the group were in lower elementary grades, I had to do some quick adjustments.


My new topic: Big Picture Homeschooling. I encouraged and challenged the parents to take some time and think about what they wanted their child to look like when he or she left their homes. Too often as parents we get overwhelmed with the everyday practical issues of life: laundry, dishes, vacuuming and dusting, paying the bills, etc. I think it's essential to spend time with the Lord and ask Him about the skills, values, and goals that He wants for our children. Knowing the end-product, we can make wiser decisions along the way.

Another point I made to these hard-working moms was that they were going to make mistakes, but that's all a part of the journey. There's a lot of pressure in the homeschool community to do everything right... to have children who are brilliant, polite, and spit-shined. In a perfect world, we always have energy, never get cranky, and have enough money to hire a maid to wash the mountain of laundry. After 7 children and 23+ years of parenting I'm becoming more aware of my less-than-stellar parenting. I can choose to get all worked up over so many regrets; or I can choose to call on God's mercy and grace.

Life is too short to spend time anxious about our past mistakes or stressed over the fear of making fresh ones. So let's get over ourselves.

Gingerbread Houses Galore!

Somewhere between Christmas dinner and leftovers; between Wii bowling and football games; between opening gifts and snoozing, our family made "gingerbread houses" on Christmas Day. We didn't use real gingerbread, but graham crackers. And more candy than a neighborhood during Halloween.



The big and little cousins had a marvelous time ... at least it sounded and looked like it. Katie and Ryan continued working on theirs after the families left for the evening. I had to shoo them to bed around 11:00.

Here are the pictures:

Christmas Shopping

Sometimes shopping at Christmas time is a lot of fun; sometimes it's the worst chore of the season. From my point of view, it takes a lot of planning, time, and shopping savvy. With 7 children, it's a daunting challenge. I try to find special gifts at good prices and keep our giving as even as possible. I shop early and stay late. I wait in long lines, wrestle with the crowds and drink plenty of coffee.


I've found a secret to changing this activity from a chore into a great time. Firstly, I remind myself that I'm loving my children well by giving them gifts. I'm blessing my extended family by giving them time (spent shopping), attention (carefully selecting items) and giving a gift. In the midst of the heightened activity of the Christmas season, it's easy to forget the "reason for the season."


Secondly, I pray before, during and after my shopping trips. I ask the Lord for extra help in finding just the right gifts at just the right prices. Like many other families, we live on a limited budget and I don't have extra money to throw away on dumb gifts. That would be wasteful. So I pray and ask for divine wisdom. Then, as I'm shopping I keep "praying in the spirit." I don't want to participate in the hectic-ness of the Mall, so I do my best to stay focused on the Lord.

The result: a great time finding just the right gifts for my family and enjoying the presence of the Lord.

Christmas Movies

Many times I feel that we watch too many movies and too much TV. When my older kids were little, we watched very little (and usually only PBS). I try to carefully monitor what and how much the kids watch.

However, I've found that I've developed a bit of a soft spot for some Christmas movies. I don't like the cheesy "Hallmark Specials," but I think there are some real treasures out there especially for the holiday season. We started watching our Christmas shows on Thanksgiving weekend.

So far, our family has watched:
Eloise at Christmas
The Muppets Christmas Carol
Santa Clause
Santa Clause 2
The Polar Express
Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Thanksgiving Fun

What I did on Thanksgiving:
Had my 3 college students and teaching daughter from Florida home for 5 days;

Pulled out sleeping bags, extra pillows and all the bath towels;

Had Daughter #3 make spiced applesauce;

Put 2 extra leaves in the table;

Got out all of the good china;

Put the largest table cloths I have on each of the three tables;

Invited 1 brother-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, 3 nieces, 1 nephew and 1 dog to join us;

Roasted a 22 pound turkey;

Served carrot cake which was a collaborative project of all 3 sons;

Went to Son #3's performance in Cheaper by the Dozen;

Played "In a Pickle" with nieces and nephews;

Ate too much stuffing, but not very much turkey;

Ate rutabaga but not lutefisk;

Was thankful and grateful for God's multitudinous blessings!

Things I Love/ Things I Hate

Things I Love:

• my husband
• my children
• coffee
• chocolate
• a good clean mystery

Things I Hate:

• whining
• headaches
• garden-eating rabbits