Giant Water Bug

This giant bug was in the water table in our backyard. It is about an inch and a half long and I was so shocked when I saw it. I didn't know we had such big bugs in this part of the world.

Excercising with Your Kids

So I'm curious. Do you exercise with your kids?

Candy Spinal Column Model

We made these candy spinal columns as part of our Human Body science unit last year.

Newborn Fingernails

These are the fingernails of my 6th right after she was born. They are so long!

Water Table

What a fun outdoor activity in the summer!

Unfinished Basement

I hope your basement doesn't look like ours!

Anthill in a Jar

Last year, we made an anthill in a jar. It was pretty neat to see them tunnel around and see the eggs appear all clustered together.

Monopoly Junior

We have the game Monopoly and our kids ask to play it often, but it is very difficult for them to play because they are too young. So we finally went out and purchased the game Monopoly Junior. 

I wasn't sure what to expect. Would the original game be lost in a dumbed down version? Would it still be fun? I was blown away by how great of a game it is! I almost like it better than the original!

Bedrooms are Full

The house we bought last summer is full. It has three bedrooms so we have one, the two babies have the other and the four oldest have the last bedroom. 

Raspberry Planter

My husband built this beautiful planter for raspberries in our backyard last summer.

Bouncy House

Maybe this is a bit extreme for winter fun, but we have a bouncy house.

Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses

My oldest is always asking to make gingerbread houses. Instead of cake for his 8th birthday, we made gingerbread houses. I have a great cut out for a gingerbread house, but we are far more likely to go with graham cracker houses. 

Camping with Young Children

Camping with little kids is no picnic!

This picture was from 2 years ago when we went for a 5 week camping trip to the west coast and back with our five children- our youngest was 5 months old. 

So I know camping season is pretty much over, but I thought I'd better put in some tips here while I was thinking of it.

Applesauce and Apple Pie

A friend of mine gave me a bucket of apples. They were beautiful rosy little apples. It was time consuming to cut and core them all because they were so small, but it was so worth it.

I successfully made three bags of applesauce and a pie with two thirds of the bucket and finished off the rest of the bucket with two more bags of applesauce and another pie two days later.

Sushi Rolls

Our family loves sushi! When my husband and I were newly married we had some friends who taught me how to make my own and I am so grateful because it has become a staple in our house. My kids have even told me how much they prefer my homemade sushi to the sushi we've had in restaurants and I'm glad because it is so much cheaper, but it totally is not anything super complicated or extravagant. 

Teacher's Planner

I wanted to share this Teacher's Planner that my husband surprised me with this year. I am loving it! 

Freezing Soups

As the days get colder, I find myself looking forward to a nice warm soup. Plus, there is a lot of produce coming out of the garden that I need to use or get into the freezer so making big pots of soup and freezing it is a great use for it.

Being Content

One of my sons has a tendency to over react to things. He has a strong sense of "fairness" and usually feels he is the one being treated unfairly. It's not fair that his lego structure got broken, or that he only got one candy instead of three (even though his brothers got none), or that he shouldn't have to go to bed (even if his brothers are all already in bed). We love him and as parents we want to give him good gifts, but he always desires more. He is not content with what little enjoyment he gets so much so that half the time I feel almost regretful that we gave him anything at all. If we took him to rides at a carnival he thinks he deserves to go again the very next day. Or if we bought ice cream to eat, he will complain that we didn't get the flavour he wanted.

Cell Phone Usage

I never had a cell phone and never felt I really needed a cell phone until my husband bought me one. It is interesting. Now I can text my friends, call my husband from the store and check my email. I can shop for things I need and read books. I can study languages and look up birds I see in my back yard. And I can watch movies and play games at the table, on the couch and even in bed!

Putting a Priority on my Marriage

In the busyness of my life and my home, it is easy to become focused on all the things that need to be done. Maintaining the home, making meals, and caring for my children can easily take up all my time leaving my husband to take last place in my priorities.

Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce for Pasta

 We were planning to be gone all day at the beach so instead of cooking the tomato sauce for pasta all day on low on the stove, I decided to try using the slow cooker. And it worked great! I will definitely be doing that again.

1. Pour in the tomato sauce. I have a pretty big slow cooker (6-8 quarts), but two jars 680 mL each of crushed strained tomatoes was enough to fill it past the "minimum fill" line.

Multitasking Overload

I've been giving some thought recently to how I seem to always be in the middle of something... of everything. I've got laundry half folded on the couch, dishes half done in the sink, lunch halfway through prepping, papers halfway sorted on the counter, homeschool stuff on the dining room table, toys all over the floor in the living room, the kids outside getting all muddy digging in the garden, my two year old running around in his diaper because he got his clothes dirty so he took them off, and the baby crying in the crib because she woke up and is ready for some lunch. And this seems to always be the time of day when my husband pops in from work for some lunch too!

Organizing Children's Clothing

It is no small matter to keep children's clothing tidy. They are constantly growing and changing sizes so there is the matter of storing the clothing that does not fit and switching in the clothes that do. Then there is the matter of keeping the clothing that they have out tidy and organized and not all over the floor or overflowing out of the closets, drawers, and boxes.

Prayers and Peanut Butter

If you are a Christian mother and in need of some encouragement I highly recommend this book called Prayers and Peanut Butter by Barbara Classen.

Mom's Morning Time

Have you ever gotten up before the kids and just enjoyed the stillness of the morning? I really love this time of day. I make myself a coffee and sometimes even take a lawn chair outside. I sit with a big sweater on and a blanket and close my eyes and just listen to the leaves rustle in the trees and the birds rushing around singing and hunting for worms. 

Isaiah 40:11

Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. 

I put this verse on under the heading to this blog because I've found it to be encouraging to me at this stage of my life with lots of little ones. I get overwhelmed easily and try to do so much. Sometimes I just run plumb out of energy and I can hardly think to get anything done. I'm needed to be so many things for so many people right now and they usually expect me to simply rise to their call. 

Obstacles to Keeping a Homeschool Routine

I have tried many different routines. With my husband working shift work, our day to day routine seems to constantly be changing and for homeschooling, I really have to work to make it happen in the part of the day I can count on. We often homeschool Saturdays and take a day off during the week when my husband is home. When he works night shifts, it is up to me to make sure the core of our school happens in the morning, because if it doesn't happen then, then it often doesn't happen since he's home in the afternoon.

But whatever routine I choose, there are many reasons it still might not be working and the problem is not necessarily the routine itself.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

I really went all out and made a big Sunday morning breakfast.