What's In My Teapot?

I went to the supermarket closest to my house this afternoon and piled my cart full of things that would have given any astute observer an idea of what is going on in my house: Cup-of-soup Bananas Canned fruit Pedialyte Cuties Jello cups Lysol- with bleach Popsicles Oatmeal packets Infants Acetaminophen Grape juice Sanitizing wipes Desperate times require desperate measures. And when three out of six family members are exhibiting symptoms of the flu, times are indeed desperate. I dread winter each and every year, and now that I am a mother, the dread has been exonerated times 4. Dark days, overcast skies and trees with nary a leaf are bad enough, but give me a household of people with coughs, diarrhea and the pukes, and my head really starts to hang low. This will pass, this will pass, this will pass... I hear the whisper, but mid-January is not a time for believing that spring will come again. Even my mother admitted recently that mothering sick c...

Merry Christmas! And hopefully more writing in the new year!!! For unto us a child is born,  unto us a son is given:  and the government shall be upon his shoulder:  and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,  The mighty God, The everlasting Father,  The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

I blinked four times- or was it only three?- and suddenly here we are, on day 70 in school, only a week away from Thanksgiving, and with a baby who is four months old!!! That's a lot for one day to handle, not? The Story: It was a lovely day- unlike what we would normally expect in mid November- and when the children ran out to play in the sunshine while I finished my breakfast, the feeling that I was *tired* of schoolbooks and just ready for a change of scenery began to take root! It didn't take long to talk myself into a field day, and it took no effort at all to convince the children! I felt mildly guilty packing everyone up and heading out mid-morning with the children only having completed one subject each, but again, I hushed my conscience, told myself that teachers have rights, and headed for the library. Insert: You're wondering how often I do this, right? Believe me, not very often! I am, for the most part, very committed ...

The other day I was writing a review about a children's poetry book and used the words homeschooling mother of four to describe myself. Four little words, and yet I stumbled over them and felt like it must be a stranger at the keyboard. How can it be? Me? A mother of four...and a homeschooling one at that? I might be old enough for this (although my mind hasn't wrapped itself around the number 33 yet) but I am certainly not...well, mature enough! Mothers of four are composed and wise. They have learned what to stress over and what not to. They can discern what to discipline for and what not to. They know what to affirm in their children and what not to. Me? I fly by the seat of my pants. Every single day. I may have be on my fourth child, but I still don't have this whole elusive thing called sleep training figured out. Therefore, if Finley sleeps through the night (which he does occasionally!) great , but if he wakes up? I feed him, and most of the time...

My favorite Sundays are the ones in which I go to church in the morning, have a nice lunch (either at home, church, or as a guest in someone's home), get a good nap, eat some popcorn for supper, and then spend the evening in the company of others, be that at another church service, by going visiting, or by having guests in our home. Yes, these are the kind of Sundays which leave me tired and with a huge pile of laundry to show for them, and yet invigorated and encouraged about facing the week ahead. Well, one of the first things you learn as an adult is that even though you are an adult and get to pick a lot of things a lot of the time, you cannot always pick your favorite things! For instance, this morning I stayed home from church with the two youngest as Parker is under the weather with a possible case of hand, foot and mouth, and Wesley had to teach the adult Sunday school class, so he couldn't very well be the one t...

If you want life to speed up and flash by, have a baby! Seriously, the past six weeks and a few days since Finley's arrival have gone so fast , and there's no doubt in my mind that as soon as I gave birth, someone took control of the clock and began spinning the hands around a whole lot faster than they were going before the baby arrived! And if time has been going fast, Finley has been growing even faster! It's a mystery to me how can I spend hours every single day nursing and diapering and admiring this little guy only to be caught off guard by how his hands are chubbier, or he's outgrown another sleeper, or his hair has changed or he just looks older , somehow! I am pretty sure that I could sit and stare at Finley for an entire day and I would  still  wonder how he had changed so quickly from morning 'till evening without me noticing it! Life is so full and busy right now, even though I am only getting the basics (and ...

There's nothing quite like the first couple of weeks with a new baby in the house! Everything is just so new and the basic rhythms of the day are dictated by a very tiny and very sweet little person who cries and sleeps and eats in a tight cycle of want and need. And then there's the recovery from the birth, the adjustments of older siblings, who all dearly love the baby, but just seem a little more, well...  active and noisy than normal (especially when visitors come to see the baby!) and the getting back to a routine that includes familiar things like laundry and dishes, but also covers new terrain like soaking soiled baby garments and remembering to bathe the baby occasionally and spending a whole lot of time in the rocking chair!!! Indeed, our family's little world has tilted on it's axis just a bit, and while it would be dishonest to deny the rough patches we've been weathering while trying to find our footing, there has also been...