Dishwasher

The other night Lucas happily licked his plate clean after dinner.  What can I say, guacamole makes people do crazy things :)  Then he proudly held up his plate and told us it was clean enough to go back in the cupboard.  I don't think I want to eat off that plate!

Paul and Silas

We have a new school project this week - two new babies in the house.  Their names are Paul and Silas. They are baby parrotlets that we are hand feeding.  I've never hand raised birds before.  I've had birds off and on over the years.  Most of them weren't hand raised and were a pain to finger train. But I find that hand raising them is much more fun even than having them hand raised by someone else.  

It's nice because they are old enough that we don't have to feed them during the night.  Just every few hours during the day.  At first we didn't know what we were doing and it seemed like the birds didn't either.  

But it is so cute now to open their box and have them open their mouths and start cheeping at me.  And you should see them down a dropper full of formula!  They are fast!  Sometimes they will eat 10% of their body weight in one sitting.

It's awesome to see how incredibly and meticulously God created every living thing.  We have watched them get their feathers and learn to sit on a finger.  We've seen them fill their crops with food and yell for more when their crop is empty.  The little guys love holding them.  We are having lots of fun with this project.

Paul is a messy eater.  He tends to get food on his face while he is eating.

This is Silas after a meal

Paul thinks he can fly, but he hasn't gotten off the ground yet :)

Dining Out With the Family

We went out to dinner tonight.  We haven't been dining out very much lately, since we have been tightening our belts like most of the nation.  That means the kids are out of practice, and you never can be entirely sure how the little ones will act.  

We went to a restaurant we have gone to several times over the years.  Since we were a party of 10 (my mom was with us), they showed us to the largest table in the restaurant where they often seat us.  It is located in a smaller room which is often empty except for us.  

Tonight, however, there was a couple eating their dinner when we got there.  We were enjoying our dinner out and when the couple behind us finally got up to leave, they stopped at our table and raved about what a wonderful family we are.  They enjoyed that we prayed for our meal together (Justin joked that they noticed the prayer because that was the only moment we were relatively quiet.) and commented repeatedly about how well behaved the kids were and how they enjoyed our interaction.  

The man said that when we walked in, he told his wife "Hurry up and eat!", thinking about how miserable it was going to be sharing the room with this family and all it's children.  But apparently they found that we weren't as bad as we first appeared. :) They kept saying how great the kids were and that it takes great parents to make great kids.

It's always nice to hear good things when you're swimming upstream.  After all, having seven kids isn't typical nowadays.  It's nice to hear that our hard work is paying off and that we are glorifying God as we go about our daily lives.  I need to remember to praise other families I see (large or small) when their kids are well behaved in public situations.  I know I like it when others do that for me.

Priorities

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you haven't gotten anything done - one of those days where a little one is very needy?  Today is one of those days.  I have to keep in mind that I am doing my job.  My job today is holding a baby with 102 degree fever who really wants her Mommy.  That's first on my to-do list - top priority.  And second on my list is coaching the other kids from the sidelines.  That's one of the blessings of being home with my kids.  She just alternates between nursing and sleeping and I do my job for today. Pretty much everything else will be wiped off my list - or at least postponed until another day.  It's kind of like a traditional job when some sudden and urgent task arises and everything else gets pushed to the sidelines.

I remember the days when I would feel guilty about sitting here all day.  I would feel guilty that my to-do list wasn't being accomplished.  And, honestly, even now, there is an niggling thought in the back of my mind that I could be doing something else if I could just lay her down or pass her off.  But today I know I'm doing what is most important.  Everything else can wait.

And, thankfully, I have bigger kids that will help me keep everything (just barely) under control. They are happy to help when I ask.  And, when Rebekah is bored, she makes cookies.  What could be better than that?

The Joys of Homeschooling

Homeschooling is such a blessing.  I love it (usually)!  One of the great things about homeschooling is that it doesn't have to look anything like traditional schooling.  And, some days look more untraditional than others.  

Lucas pierced his ear.  OK, he didn't really.  It's held on with scotch tape.  But, what can we label this class as?  Career preparation?  No, hopefully he won't really be into body piercing :)

Rebekah was working on science and her favorite munchkin wanted to be held.  So, she strapped her on with a Maya Wrap and continued her work.  Arianah stayed there happily for a long time.  So, I guess she gets credit for science and mother in training.

Elijah spent part of the morning running around practicing with the nerf gun.  I'm thinking that counts as PE.

Lucas is climbing the doorway.  That has to count as PE, too.

Hannah was helping me put the dewey decimal labels on the school books.  That's gotta count for something.  And, yes, she is doing school in her PJs.  That's another benefit of homeschooling.  At least that's what I hear from the children.

Now Elijah is doing science.  The rain brought the worms onto the patio.  Rebekah mentioned that if you cut a worm in half, you'll get two live worms.  So ... he did!  Typical boy.

Stay tuned.  I'm sure we'll have another untraditional day of school sooner or later.