Not So Brilliant

Some people have the very mistaken notion that I have it all put together! They often refer to me as superwoman and think I can do no wrong! Well, let me just put that myth to rest right now.

First of all, I made a fantastic chicken dish for supper and some super wonderful twisted breadsticks but do you think I made any potatoes or rice or noodles to go with that saucy chicken? Nope. None. So, we had chicken and biscuits (in case you think that vegetables were lacking, green peppers and pineapple were part of the chicken dish).

Then, after sports were over for the night, I drove the 1/2 hour to the grocery store to do grocery shopping. We are seriously low on milk and dishwasher soap (2 ESSENTIALS in a household with 5 children) plus other necessary items. I first stopped at a friend's place to bring her an orchid as she recently lost her grandmother. Between her house and the grocery store it suddenly hit me that I may not have my wallet with me. So, I pulled over and sure enough. No wallet. I had taken it out of my purse to place an order online and not only forgot to put it back, I forgot to check to see if it was actually there before leaving the house. 2 dumb moves. So, I came right back home without any groceries. In the pouring rain. It reflected exactly how I felt. I was sure glad I discovered this before loading up a cart with food! Maybe later this week will be better for me!

Family Fun Night

Since Jay was noticeably absent last week, he figured we needed to do something a little more special for our weekly Sunday afternoon/evening family night. Off to the zoo it was! Spring at the zoo is a wonderful time! The temperature was seasonably cool and cloudy which made it perfect for animal viewing! Zoo babies abound! This little guy was so very adorable!

Peacocks were busy showing off for all the peahens!

My very favorite part of the zoo is the wild cats!

(someday Jay will take me on an African safari- someday!)

After the zoo, it was supper time so we picked up some subs and headed to the adjacent park for a picnic supper. There happened to be a football in the van so we all participated in a little catch.

I had to tackle Pepe to the ground - he beaned me in the head with the football - I think it was on purpose! Everyone was trying to save Pepe from me - gotta love it!

Finally, we went to very-newly-opened Children's Nature Playground.

They had large beds filled with tulips! It was so beautiful!

Earlier in the day Jay promised Slurpees to everyone so at 8:45 at night, on the way home, Jay stopped to buy MONSTROUSLY huge Slurpees for the kids. The boys shared one, the girls shared one and Jay and I shared one. Needless to say, the volume and energy level in van was at an all-time high as the sugar and caffeine kicked in! We had such a wonderful time with our family! I know I really would like to have more children but it was so very wonderful to take them on this adventure with every child being so very independent. It was a new and wonderful experience for us!

Do you take time each week to focus on your family? What are some of the fun things you like to do?

All By Myself

Well, not really by myself, just by myself with 5 kids! No, Jay has not flown away to some great destination, he is not "out with the boys", he is just working. A LOT! By the time the end of Saturday rolls around, he will have put in close to 80 hours this week! That's 2 weeks worth of work, people, in 6 days! Needless to say, I hardly see him and the kids don't see him at all. He leaves around 6 or 6:30 in the morning and comes home around 10 or 11 at night. We talk until about midnight and then fall asleep just to start all over the next day. I know, this is normal for some people. For you ladies out there that have truckers for husbands, I tip my hat to you. This "single parenting" stuff is tiring! And for single moms out there, wow! That is all I have to say! You really do this all day, every day! Day in and day out! So, what is Jay busy with? Working at the hog barn in the mornings (that's after doing the chicken chores very first thing in the morning), some field work if the soil is dry, then catching chickens (it is REALLY good money and with house building coming up, a nice monetary boost) in the afternoons/evenings/nights. While he is gone, I still teach school, take the kids to their sports, built a bat house, planted some garden (potatoes & corn), make food, do laundry, paperwork, all those fun things. I miss my hubby! So, each day I pray for grace and kindness and loving words for my children and strength and energy for my hubby. This past week, I realize how overwhelmed I am with love for my children. I am totally head-over-heels in love with my family. I love the sparkle in their eyes. I love the way they look. The way they move. I am greatly and exceedingly blessed to call them mine! Thank you, Jesus, for surpassing all expectations and bestowing greater blessings on me than I ever deserved. Now, please bring hubby home safely. I sure look forward to Sunday when we can all be together. And, if the weather changes drastically and doesn't rain for the next 4 days like it says it will, we will go to the zoo together on Sunday and just be together. As a family. For family day. Yeah, I cannot wait!

♥♥♥ My encouragement for the day! ♥♥♥

Lapbook of Jordan

This is the final lapbook we made for our geography course this year. The boys enjoyed this one especially because Jay was able to tour some of the locations we talked about when he went to Jordan a number of years ago. Jay brought back a keffiyeh and a Jordanian newspaper so both were quite amusing for the kids.

I discovered the boys really enjoy learning about the countries of our world, the peoples that live there, the land that fashions it, the languages spoken - all those fun things. Because of that, next year we will study more of the world using the curriculum called Galloping the Globe. I ordered it this week along with some of the additional resources needed. We will be doing a lapbook/notebook approach this time, using a binder and dividing it into the continents. We will study a few countries on each of the continents and will try to include those countries where we personally know missionaries live. What a great way to study this wonderful world God created! And this time, RJ gets to join us on our geography journey. Yes, I know she is only 5 but she already begged to join the boys this year as they studied geography. Why hold her back when she is so eager?

To find all the lapbooks on this geography course, click the country names below:

Turkey

Israel

Egypt

Iraq

Saudi Arabia

As always, just email me if you want the file for any of the lapbooks I have made - I will gladly share with you!

Lapbook of Saudi Arabia

Here is the lapbook of Saudi Arabia the boys made:

Find additional lapbooks of the Holy Land here:

Turkey

Israel

Egypt

Iraq

Kindness from a Brother to a Sister

Sometimes I wonder about the heart of my children. What are they really like? What are they really thinking? In particular, do they really care about each other? So many children today are downright mean to their brothers and sisters. Or if they are not mean, they just don't care about each other. Many times the way they treat each other causes me to wonder and other times I have no doubts. Today as I was working in the country, AJ (6), Ali (3) and Ari (2) were playing together. Ali was pulling Ari in the wagon and AJ was pushing from behind. I am not entirely sure what happened but somehow Ali ended up falling down and hurting herself. I was close enough to see the entire thing transpire but I was in no hurry to run over and comfort her. I wanted to see how AJ would react. Did he cause the injury? Would he comfort her? Would he apologize? What I saw was proof that that little mischievous boy has a great heart inside (which I always suspected but liked the confirmation!). He knelt down in front of her, looked her in the eyes and asked if she was okay. She said no, that she hurt her hands. She held them palm up for him to see. He gently grabbed one, looked at it and kissed her palm. Then he gently grabbed the other one, kissed it and told her it was all better. She smiled, got up and went on playing! My mother's heart just swelled with pride! What a kind child he is! What a great affirmation for me! I have always told people that he is a mischievous boy who likes to make people laugh but a very sweet child. He proved that today! As he meandered over to where I was, I knelt in front of him and told him that I saw what he did. I told him that not only was he so kind to his sister but that I was so proud of him. He smiled his super cute missing-two-front-teeth smile and said, "Oh, I didn't know you were proud of me!" You better believe it, little man! I am very proud of you!

Lapbook of Iraq

We are finished our geography course for this year and it has been a blast! The boys have really enjoyed studying the Holy Land as presented in A Child's Geography - Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp. We finished the study of Iraq last month already but I never got around to posting pictures of the lapbooks. Here is Iraq:

As I mentioned earlier, if you are wanting the file for this lapbook, just send me an email. I will gladly share it with you! Tomorrow, I will show you our lapbook of Saudi Arabia.