Mamma, are we rich?

Boy, what a great question. There are so many ways to answer Daniel(9) who asked this a couple days ago. It has led to many conversational rabbit trails.

Yes, Daniel, we are rich.

We are so very rich first and foremost because we know Christ, the only means of salvation from the eternal condemnation demanded of our sins. We know God. The only true God. In that alone we are rich, we are saved, our lives are but vapors.

Secondly we are rich materially. We do not think of ourselves as “middle-class”. Truth is, we are rich. The fact that we “own” a home, have food, clothes, books and all the rest our home is filled with makes us rich. Who ever said you have to have money left over from a paycheck to be rich?

A while back there was a piece of junk mail lying around that stated the cost of *owning and operating* children. We love these goofy charts and graphs *they* come up with, whoever *they* are. One common question the children hear while we are out singing at rest homes is “What does your HUSBAND do?” and “How do you feed ALL these children?”

These questions they hear added with the junk mail they read had the children discussing amongst themselves how many children they will be able to *afford* in the future….lovely.

Out came Wikipedia. Boy. Silly, irresponsible me. I should have consulted Wikipedia before having all these children because according to them, I’m in for a life of hurt and destitution!! Below is what our 7 children cost us right now. Just for fun, we crunched the numbers and this is what we came up with as our math lesson for the day.

Housing $4398ea child x 7 children = $30,786 total a year

Food $2008 ea x 7 = $14,056 total a year
(that is almost $1200 a MONTH. I spend about $400)

Transportation $1695 ea x 7 = $11865 a year (with that amount we could buy our van and cover gas expenses every year)

Clothing $535 ea x 7 = $3745(Maybe spend $40 a month ave)

Healthcare $735 ea x 7 = $5145 (2009 – all prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care totaled $2900, other exp $230) O.k., o.k., my daughter pointed out this should cover dental in which the cost would rise 1k. ;)

education(4) $1330 ea x 7 = $5320 (all new curriculum, field trips 250 ea…maybe. They're young yet.)

Misc $1272 ea x 7 = $8904

Grand Total? $79,821.00 annually.

Oh. And don't forget Paul and I. After adding us in(not to mention all our animals) we make less than half of the minimum needed to support our family. So there you have it, we are dirt poor….and loving every minute of it. ;)

“Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. Jer 9:23,24

Daniel is fascinated by electric motors.

He carries this motor around everywhere with him and hooks it up to different household items to see what they do. Today it was erector set pieces creating a small saw.

Since with boys, destruction=learning, I found him at the table like this. My first reaction was to complain about the mess, but then seeing the intent focus on his face, how could I?

The bib was a nice idea to keep him clean, however my walls did not fair as well!
Oh well, that's what his little man muscles and washclothes are for.

He sat and patiently ground away 2/3 of the apple.

Oh sad day...

As we gear up for Spring and anticipate getting dirt under our nails, we mourn the loss of milk due to drying up our goat. Bittersweet. We looooove our nutritious raw milk and can not imagine life without our *granola in yogurt* lunches. The children gasp at the thought of drinking...ack...COW's milk. (Ewe, ewe, ewe) I know, buck up and deal with it for crying out loud.

Maybe there is more drama than there should be(o.k. a LOT more)...but we have grown into self-righteous goat milk drinkers who put our noses in the air and snub a glass of COW milk. Cattle are of low class. Unable to climb mountains or give kisses, they are content to always live in the lowlands. They stick their tongues in their noses...YUCK! Dawn, you know what I am talking about! Yeah, they have cream and their milk gives butter, but who needs it? (just don't look in my freezer filled with bushels of Cash-N-Carry butter)

Back to what I started. We are mourning the first day of the drying up of our goat. All those books written by know-it-all goat breeders say we need to dry up our goat. Her energy needs to go to producing her sweet little goaty babies. In four weeks time we will go from just under a gallon of milk a day(Super Goat, what can we say?) to nothing. Zip, zero, zilch, notta.

So in the mean time I will continue to go visit my goat(Yes, Junie is my goat, Chloe is his goat, Jackie Chan is their goat) brush her coat out nicely, trim her little hooves, snuggle her, rub her chunky sides and whisper "Grow nicely my little goaty babies so you can be born fat and we can eat you and have our milk back."

The Maxwells are coming!

We are going to have the privilege of meeting and learning from the Maxwell family on being keepers at home and homeschooling with a meek and quiet spirit. I am praying hubby can get the time off so I can go soak in what Teri and her daughters have to say to us!

They are coming to New Life Fellowship church on Feb 9th from 1-4 for a Mother/Daughter tea. There is no charge and you can sit by me! I'll even save a chair. ;)

I have belonged to their email list Dad's and Mom's Corners for quite sometime and thoroughly enjoy my time reading their lastest "Corner" as they hold no punches and tell my heart just want it needs to hear...most of the time. ;)

January 1, 2010 has been much anticipated by me. I am not one to make resolutions, but in November 2009 I decided to gear up for one. I BIG one. I HUGE one...for me. This past year has been a busy one...I do not want to use chaotic, because our house is never chaotic, in the true sense of the word. I really can not think of a good word as every one I think of has negative connotations. I LOVE my busy house, it can get really, reeeeeeally busy, but still be a good thing. I like to say I thrive when things are falling apart, I like to meet the challenge. There are days....oh there are days. No sleep, teething, arguing toddlers, selfishness, just daily life with 8 sinful, fallen souls abiding in the same home. I have had the least amount of sleep with this baby. Contrary to popular advice, as a mother of 7, it is impossible to take a nap during the day...at least not until my oldest is older. ;) I have had to put my selfish desires for sleep behind me to be able to breastfeed this baby, and it worked. I'll do it again in a heartbeat.

Fall/Winter is tough with the children(and I) having to adjust to shut in life. School has started, structure, Structure, STRUCTURE...no more running outside all day long and blowing off energy. We can get on each others nerves and it is a wonderful time of fleshing out and teaching the fruit of the Spirit and denying that urge to pick at each other, complain and have pity parties.

Where am I going with this? This last year I have grown SICK of hearing myself scold and grump at the children...and worse yet, complain about daily happenings to my husband. My 2010 resolution is to be a cheerful wife and mother. Really, that is it. But it seems HUGE to me.

I am going to greet my husband with a smile every day, even after the worst of the worst days, who wants a grumpy wife? Happy women are everywhere out there, who wants to come home to a disheveled/self-pitying wife? He is not going to be my venting place. God will. I will stop thinking that somehow by venting on him I will make our life together better. I will vent to the Lord and ask for His wisdom and solutions to my problems while listening to that alarm clock and rising extra early to seek Him. *Obviously there will be many times I will need my hubs advice on how to manage his home and children, but only when truly necessary*

Then the grumping and scolding. If I can't say what I need to say in a normal tone of voice, I will keep my mouth shut until I can answer matter-of-factly and kindly, even when *scolding*.

So, January 12 is here. For 12 days I have not complained to hubby. I have already seen a change in him. He is more happy and more loving than usual. My children, especially Jessica, have commented on how *fun* it is to be in our big family. With my Lords help I am not going to be characterized by raising my voice at my children. I want to continue practicing a biblical gentle and quiet spirit and to give "A soft answer [that] turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Patience it a must for a mother of many...or a mother of any, imo.

Enough for now. The Lord has already changed me so much from what I used to be(ack) but I have so far to go and I am dedicated to continuing the journey He has laid before me. It is true, I need to "excel still more". Thankfully I do not strive to become *good enough* for my God, I have no good in me and I stand completely clean before him because of the blood of His Son. Thankfully His love is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow for me. He knew what I was yesterday, today and what I will be throughout my life(!), all my sins, rebellions and problems, and He STILL choose me. Praise the Lord!

I will stop there. Sheesh. Anyhoo, if you can spare the time, come to the Mother/Daughter Tea at New Life Fellowship(810 Pole Rd, Lynden) and be strengthened and encouraged in God's Word Feb 9th.

The Wicked Flea

This morning while the children were quietly doing their reading Emma piped up and asked "Mamma? What is a wicked flea?"

Everyone looks up from their Bibles, turns and looks at me.

Emma - "Is it like the bad flea that Madelines dog got and it spread and made the dog itchy?"(as in the book Madeline)

*Pause*

Me trying to figure out what she had just read. I asked her to use it in a sentence.

She then reads "The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion."

And we all snicker, pat her on the head and explain it as it is meant.

Uncle Jeff had a baby...

At least, that is what Gracie is telling everyone today.

She carries her little baby around all dressed in pink, gets a serious look on her face and tells you "Uncle Jeff had a baby -n- dis is his baby". She lifts the little one to her eye level, frowns a bit(in a loving sort of way) and kisses it's forehead.




Why she picked my brother as part of her make-believe world, I do not know. She just learned to pronounce his name two days ago. If I ask her where is the baby's mommy, she states it is Uncle Jeff...if I ask her where the daddy is...she says uncle Jeff is at work.




So Uncle Jeff, if you are looking for your baby, I think you left it here.

My Big Boy.

My big boy is....drum roll please.....walking! He took off across the vast ocean of space between the rocking chair and the couch...made it half way and fell. He thought he was Mr. Smarty Pants with that grin he gave. Since then(Christmas Eve) he is walking more and more. He has been taking steps for quite some time now, but we do not count it as walking until they take 3 real steps at a time. My second 9m old walker and he is a slow and steady one.

My baby Lillie sitting so pretty I couldn't help myself but add this picture.

Jacob with his three man sling shot he recieved for Christmas and Miker in his big boy Carrhart coveralls, they all look so cute now! Here they are launching potatoes into the neighbors field.

My two Christmas projects, more knit hats, making these #5 and #6! This time matching ones out of homespun yarn for Lidger and Daddy. Lidger isn't too keen on the idea, but puts up with it. Yes, I loooove knitting, no I have no plans of buying a sheep for fiber.

This was awesome. I done gots myself a homemade version of Mindy's cheesepress! My hubby somehow snuck this one by me and worked on it without my knowing. It is made of UHMW instead of wood then the rest of stainless steel. Isn't he the best? What a sweet talented hubby the Lord gave me! Unfortunately now I need to save up the money for the rennet, lipase and cheese wax...but I am a large step closer to cheddar, baby!

My Mom won't like this picture because she never likes pictures of herself, but I LOVE it. She kept an otherwise crabby baby happy on Christmas by taking out the binky and inserting a candy cane. NOT something a Mamma would do, but Grandma can get away with it and surprisingly, he was quiet and sat very well on Gmas lap!

Success at last

Have you noticed how I talked about potty training my newly 2 yr old back in July? Then never talked about it again? I only boasted a little on how well all my children have trained, thus far. Thinking Gracie would fall right into that mold and be trained in a couple weeks time. We bought our *incentives*, washed all the trainers and the couple weeks it was supposed to take turned into a few weeks..then I gave up. One thing I have learned(and it took a long time) is that you can not say at "c" age a child should be doing "d" and don't frustrate yourself trying to *teach*(force) them do it. It will come.

Gracie refused to train, quite stubbornly, so I put her back in diapers and every couple weeks we'd give her a 5 min refresher course, to keep it fresh in her mind. I had given up on ever training her when all of a sudden, she was sitting at the table coloring by herself Monday when she quietly got down mumbled something about #2 and ran off.

I had Jess spy on her and she found Gracie ran and did the whole works herself, #2 even! Usually they start with #1, not Grace, she thought enough was enough. She has been in panties every since that episode three days ago, NEVER an accident and even dry for naps. Try to figure that one. Micah trained himself and did the same thing, only younger. Gracie just trained herself. Maybe it is the Teddy Grahams or the Fishies, I don't know, I just know I am glad it is done with! What a big girl! 2 yrs 5 months. This little girl is such a hoot, she talks non-stop and cracks us up so much! She isn't the handful she was as Mamma cracked down on her antics and she is much happier and in less trouble, too! We are so blessed to have each one and look forward to the future of having more if the Lord sees fit.