Thinking back 2016 Mother's Day

FaceTime with Missionary brother Gregg.  I love spending my life with those I love.  Whether through FaceTime or real time!  (Of course nothing beats real time)

Staying in touch

I think I have mentioned in the past that technology is a wonderful thing.  In particular, technology helps me to be able to keep up with my 4 married children and their little ones on a regular basis and see how they are all growing both physically and spiritually.  I love checking in on Facebook and seeing new posts they submit to their blogs.  As we all know blogging comes on a regular basis at times and sometimes it takes a back seat.  Either way, the updated posts they each make are a joy to see when you live 100's of miles away.  So as you may have guessed, this post is about thanking technology and on sharing the blogs of my kiddos.  JULI is a photographer and I love seeing the latest posts and updates of her darling kids.  HEATHER (daughter in law) is also a photographer and I love seeing her precious kiddos as well and keeping current with their lives.  Christie hasn't come around to the world of blogging yet but at least I get to see her and her little on Facebook!!  ROBYN is the newest of our family to enter the blogging world and she does well updating too.  (unlike her mother)  She loves to write and share all about her life with husband Luke and beautiful new baby daughter Charlotte.  

As I have said, this is a post about sharing and loving technology.  That said, (again) I invite you to share in the musings, sighs, events, photos, ups, downs, and all the simple and complicated things that motherhood can bring to us all, including now, the lives of my girls.   Click the names below the pics to check out their latest blog post!!!

Robyn and Luke

Juli and Kelly

Vance and Heather

Oh, and speaking of technology AGAIN......

We got these little gems on Amazon (did I ever say how much I love amazon?) for Christmas.  We use them all the time.  Who would have thought?  Trips to the Y, when the girls take the dog on a walk, when running around the park, or wherever or whenever we need to stay somewhat connected. They are way cheaper to run than cell phones and have up to a 30 mile radius.  They were so worth buying.  We've decided that we need to at least purchase on more pair and by putting them all on the same frequency keeping up with the locations of our kids will be even easier.  Like next week we plan to spend a week at Wisconsin Dells and I am sure these will come in handy more than ever!!

Click the pic to read more about these awesome little "toys"

Introducing Jordan Jeffery Chandler

This post reminds me that I am NOT keeping by blog updated.  Jordan Jeffrey Chandler joined daughter Christie and husband Jeff on July 25,2014.  He is beautiful and we love him like crazy. We've been blessed with 2 babies this year and our hearts are overflowing! Our family continues to grow and absolutely NOTHING is better than adding new ones to shower with love.

Just because...

Just us and our days!

If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.  Winnie the Pooh 

and you, and you, and you, and you, and so on and so on.........

Thinking out loud-what I pray for my children

As a mom it is only natural to think and pray for my children.  I have recently been thinking and pondering on all the areas of prayer that I would want my children to be shielded with everyday. The following are what I have come up so far and would love to hear from others who have reached down into their hearts for words of prayers that would send protection over our children.

That they will have the desire to receive the Lord and come to know the Him personally. -(John 1:12-13)

That they desire righteousness and shun evil. (Psalm 98:10 and Amos 5:15)

That they will humble themselves before the Lord.  (1 Peter 5:5-6)

That they will always be honest and seek after truth. (Proverbs 12:22)

That their hearts will be soft in order to hear and obey the Lord in all things. (1 Samuel  3:10)

That they will stand mind, body, and spirit spotless, pure, and blameless before the Lord.  (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

That the children who are not married yet that the Lord will prepare for them a godly spouse who will commit to a godly marriage for all eternity.  (2nd Corinthians 6:14-18)

That they will love to read the scriptures everyday, meditate and pray on them that they may find direction and guidance through them.  (Psalm 119)

That no matter what happens in life they will always be strong and that their faith will never fail them.  (Luke 22-32)

That they will watch and keep their hearts always from evil.  (John 17:15-16)

That they will love prayer and commit to daily prayer.  (Psalm 55:17)

That they will stand strong in the face of temptation  and no matter what, never compromise their faith.  (1 Peter 5:8-9)

That they will always let their light shine to influence those around them for good.  (Matthew 5:16)

That they will have complete discernment to always know good from evil in all circumstances in life.  (Isaiah 59:14-15)

That they will seed the Lord with all their hearts.  (Psalm 27:8)

That they will always attend church and worship with God's people.  (Hebrews 10:25)

That they will hate evil, never give in to the desires of the flesh, nor the pride that can it's way into our hearts.  (1 John 2:15-17)

That they will be filled with the Holy Spirit at all times.  (Acts 2:16-18)

That they will keep themselves pure and clean for their future spouse.  Mind, body, and soul.  (Romans 6:12-13)

That they will desire children and created a godly home for them.  (Psalm 127 and 128)

And especially.....

That they will love the Lord with their heart, soul, mind, and strength and serve Him always.  (Mark 12:30)

And that the Lord will watch over each of them and protect them from danger, sickness, harm, accident, and from all the attacks from the adversary physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  (Psalm 91)

Girl's just wanna have fun! (mama's too)

Hanging with my girls.  Literally!

 You will never have this day with your children again.

Plank hold competition!

 Tomorrow they will be a little bigger than they are today.

 This day is a gift.  Breathe and notice. 

Smell and touch them; study their little faces and their feet and pay attention.  

 Relish the charms of the present.

Enjoy today mama.  It will be over before you know it."

Jen Hatmaker

Children and a love for learning

What parents wouldn't want their children to love books?  I know I am thrilled when one of my children are caught with a book in their hands.  You know, the "unassigned" kind! I was a reader as a child but today holds more of a challenge to instill a love of reading in our kids.  Today we have to compete with iphones, ipads, computers, electronic games, movies, etc. etc. etc.  When I was a kid the only distraction came in the form of the idiot box.  And fortunately for me my dad rarely let us children veg in front of it.  Of course, we complained, stomped, screamed, and all that but it never swayed my dad! Today, however, I am thankful for it.

So today, how do we instill a love of reading in our offspring? If you have read this far you are probably thinking that I have formulated some great plan to accomplish this but I haven't. I apologize! I do know this though!  

Kids are naturally curious and have a natural tendency towards learning new things.  And reading to them from great books from infant hood is key in developing these desires.  They are fascinated with the stories mom and dad read to them as a small child and as they grow it is only natural for the fire that you built in them as a young child to continue to burn with the children feeding it themselves once they learn to read on their own.  Like anything, teaching and training while young is key to nearly everything we want our children to learn.  Some simple tips to begin your child on his/her journey into the wonderful world of books.

     Read out loud to them while they are very young.

Take them to your local library frequently and let them choose their own (appropriate) books.

Interest them in little 'tea parties' where reading aloud to them imparting good feelings towards books.

Perhaps design a 'special' reading place for your child with baskets of favorite classic books, pillows and blankets.

Send extra praise towards your reluctant reader upon completion of reading for a specified time.

And most of all, again, as with anything we mom and pops do example soars above all else.  Pick up a book yourself and in doing so you will be sending a powerful message to your children.

And remember this.  No matter how much you plead, bribe, beg, demand, or even expect some form of read to come from your child it just might not happen.  If this is the case then I suggest that you stop beating yourself up and accept that for whatever reason your child is either not ready, or simply is not interested in reading at all.  It happens, because we are all created individually by a loving creator and no one is created equal.  Different strokes for different folks.

Wonderful Wednesday

I never grow weary of seeing little ones sleeping!

To them it's called play, to me, it's called work!

So my advice to ME, and to whoever else out there in blog world can use it; play while it's still play and hope that it never becomes work!!!!!! Maybe I should be writing this post for the kids! (Anyone under the age of 30) For the rest of us though, we have to work 5x as hard to do what children do easily through natural play! Truly, they are my teachers in so many ways. All I have to do is watch and listen and I learn so much about so many things. I love being a mom!

My girls love to join me in my yoga (non religious) practice. I can not help but be amazed when I watch their ease and agility to do something that brings puddles of sweat from me! They just look at me and grin. I know they love 'showing me up.' And they do a great job at it!

Ahhh, the energy of youth.

Me, in a tree? Upside down on a trampoline? Yeah right!

Out of the hearts of kids and into the heart of mom!

The drawing on the chalkboard in our dining room by our girls caused daddy to 'read between the lines!' He called the 'guilty' one to him and asked why the heart around mom's name was bigger than the one around dad's name! (after all, it is Father's Day this month, not Mother's Day!) Oh you should have heard the sweet excuses fly. I was too short, I ran out of chalk, the D's are bigger than the M's..........

Dad---"Yea, yea, I see how it works now. That's okay, I can live with it, it's no secret anymore who you all love more!"

It made for lots of laughter and teasing, especially for daddy!

Somtimes........

Sometimes....

It's hard for me to sit down and enjoy the moments.

I'm reminded of how much I LOVE my 5 grandkids and their moms and pops when I run across a photo of them. Living in different states STINKS but fortunately, considering that we still get to see them quite often. But of course not often enough!

I feel self-conscience when I see a camera nearby and someone snapping photos!

I am mildly dishonest (to myself) when I indulge in something I shouldn't and think it's not going to affect me on the scale! Or when I sleep in longer than I should and shave an hour off when hubby asks what time I woke up! (okay, not quite a whole hour and only because he teases me constantly! I mean, not everyone can wake up a 4:20 a.m. like he does! But I'm working on it! Not the 4 o'clock thing but the mildly dishonest thing!)

I can't imagine a world without my family.

I'm surprised that I still long to have more babies added to my family! "Saying there are too many children in the world is like saying there are too many flowers." Yes, Mother Theresa, I wholeheartedly agree!

I get a little too easily wrapped up in exercising and long walks.

I indulge in guilty pleasures like organic white chocolate bars.

I wish all things in life were as beautiful as a breezy, cool, summer evening lying on a blanket outside.

A fun game I was invited to join (invitation open to all) from daughter-in-laws Heather's blog. You too should grab the list and fill out your own 'sometimes' thoughts!

A very sweet Mother's Day

"Sweet" in so many ways. After church we had dinner outside on a blanket and when we were finished the girls all 'ordered' me to stay outside for a little bit. Before calling me indoors my Mary came up to me with her 'flower' and told me to blow on it and make a wish. Her exact words were: "Hey mom, blow on this and when you do make sure you wish for a card, a headband, a picture, some pennies, a ring, a candle, and a coupon holder. Somehow I had gotten the distinct feeling as to exactly what I would find once I went into the house. Sure enough, this mama got everything she 'wished' for. So precious. The girls had a lay out of pound cake, strawberries, rhubarb crunch, and homemade whipping cream. Another sweet from my wonderful day. Later we all had fun playing at the park and enjoying the beautiful day. The day ended with my older kids chatting on the phone and getting a sweet mother's day's from them. You can never hear Happy Mother's day enough I say! I want to thank all my precious kids for making me smile the whole day long! And how can I forget my little grandson Beckham with his uttered words of; Happy Mudder's day gandma! Love it!

Wonderful Wednesday~sing with me

I'm having the time of my life ~ And I owe it all to you ~ WOO HOO!

These girls are so much fun and bring me so much joy! We do nearly everything together. I love having them around!

Daddy brought it to my attention the other day how easy it would have been to stop having babies after my 7th was born because I felt at times that I was beginning to run out of gas!

But I am SO THANKFUL I didn't! I am so grateful I kept my heart open to receive more gifts from Heavenly Father. After all, no gift in the world is greater or brings more joy than the gifts that come straight from Heaven. I can't imagine life without them or any of my kids. "Oh, how much I'd miss."

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

Week of March 4 thru the 10th, 2012

In my life this week....I am loving the 'fake' spring weather we are having. It has been perfect for long walks with kids and hubby. I say fake because I really don't believe that it's here to stay! So very unusual.

In our homeschool this week....We just completed lesson one from A Child's Story of the World. Here are a couple of pages from the guide! We plan on staying in Ancient History at least until summer's end!

Our 'box' came from Rainbow Resources replacing some tired and worn out reading books!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice....Keep meals, especially dinners simple, yet nutritious so as to be able to spend more quality time with your children and husband. For instance, a meal of homemade bread, scrambled eggs, blueberries and oranges with a warm cup of hot cocoa can really fill you up. Eggs aren't just for breakfast anymore!

I am inspired by....My precious daughters reminding me of the importance of spending time together as we enjoy some quiet tea time while reading a fun story!

My favorite thing this week was....Seeing my daughter in the kitchen eating breakfast "appropriately" dressed while waiting for the boys to get the fire burning in the woodstove! (It might have been a little chili when they woke up!)

What's working/not working for us....I think I can speak for everyone when I say that high gas prices are not working for us. When you live 25 miles from the nearest anything it can make shopping, errands, etc. difficult. Grouping everything into a one day trip is extremely helpful.

Questions/thoughts I have....I've been thinking about how much I love being a wife and mother. The whole deal of family, children, husbands, and wives truly is a wonderful gift given us by God to bring untold happiness and everlasting blessings. And on the flip side, I am saddened by those who choose not to enter into the holy state of marriage but rather prefer to enter relationships not ordained by God from as long ago as The Garden of Eden. Oh, how much they miss.

Things I'm working on....Changing up my vigorous exercise workouts to the more gentler approach of yoga. However, I am still finding my muscles are just as sore everyday as they were when I was beating myself up with weights and cardio! But at least I will earn some flexibility, something I wasn't getting with strength/circuit training.

I'm reading....Still reading Grace for the Good Girl and books about yoga.

I'm cooking....Quiche Lorraine. The 'real' quiche lorraine doesn't have stir fried additions but I changed it up a bit.

I'm grateful for....A daughter who loves making homemade bread. One who sees that her last batch is gone and takes it upon herself to start another one. Which is about every other day! She even looks for reasons to make some simply because she loves doing it.

I'm praying for....Vision. Where there is no vision the people perish. I truly believe this is true. Both on a personal level and where our entire family is concerned!

A photo, link, or quote to share....

Photo - Juli and her little daughter flew from Texas to be here when our 12th baby was born. Sadly, I went way over my due date and she missed it by nearly a week. It would have been awesome having her here but it worked out that 4 months later at our son's wedding she got to meet and hold her newest baby sister. So very glad I had my camera in hand that day!

Quote - "So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish you tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles on sleeping men." Voltarine de Cleyre

Link - a very cute site where one can learn how to make skirts for girls

My birthdays just keep getting better!

They really do! You can never hear the words "Happy Birthday mom!" I got to hear it all day today! And it never got old! I love how they drew a birthday picture on the wall chalkborard!

I began my day on a very good note, a healthy bowl of oatmeal with cream and slivered almonds! Then my husband took me to dinner, shopping, and home to have some yummy cake and ice cream. Robyn made this delicious Walnut Cake: AKA Hickory Nut Cake from one of my favorite movies Meet Me In St. Louis.

And speaking of things not getting old! Well maybe there are some things that get old according to my children! I just couldn't get them to stop putting all those candles on the cake! They are welcome to go all day wishing me happy birthday but STOP with candles already!

My little girls presented me with some very precious gifts.

This is a far of dimes and pennies my kids have been collecting. Their goal is to find 'real' copper pennies and 1965 or older for the dimes. They gave me part of their collection and after I opened it Mary asked if she could count them and I told her yes. So she dumped them out onto the table and I noticed there were dimes in there when I thought there were only pennies. I asked: "Hey are there dimes in there too?"

Oh yes, said Mary. But they're bad ones?

I was confused, Bad ones, what do you mean?

She said, You know bad ones, seriously, she (her sister) put them in there, I'm not kidding mom, seriously, there are bad ones in there!! (meaning 'newer' dimes) I just thought it was so cute and funny. Kids say the funniest things.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

For the week of Feb. 13 - Feb. 17th, 2012

In my life this week....I have had more time to read to the kids than normal and I am really enjoying it. I have been enjoying this even more than reading books I am personally interested in. I sometimes struggle with staying focused and on track with all the things on my plate but as of late I have been praying for more focus and I'm seeing the fruits of those prayers everyday. In the end there is only so much that matters and that is the time I spend with my kids; in reading to them, taking time to train them, instruct them in their homeschool lessons, having quality chat time, and enjoying doing activities together. There can be so many distractions that take us away from our families and I have been determined to fine tune my attention to the best of my ability towards home and hearth.

In our homeschool this week....I'm proud to say that I actually got some handicraft projects incorporated into our days. I should rephrase that - A handicraft project!

We had 5 of them but one must have taken up legs and walked off!

A peek at our classical writing class. The model looks a bit rough around the edges but much work goes into these! We identify all of the parts of speech throughout the week by circling, underlining, checking, etc. Each week we focus on a different Aesop's Fable as our model to analyze. We cover vocabulary, spelling, dictation, copywork, parts of speech, elocution as each child reads aloud their model and we go on to discuss the fable in depth and talk about how we can apply it to our own lives. Each of the children has their own copy to "mess up." On the right Janai colored her picture of Abraham from out lesson in Christian Studies.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice....Here's a 'tip' for a couple of the very best artsy type books I have found. They are full to the brim with awesome ideas.

I am inspired by....My daughter Christie and her resolute faith in the Lord. She prays, she patiently waits and listens, then moves forward with a clear mind resolved to do the will of the Lord in her life! Something I am always foggy on. Waiting, hearing, knowing for sure.........

Places we're going and people we're seeing....This statement gets me every time! I'm sure every time I post my Homeschool Mother's Journal it will always stay the same. - Staying home! (Does the grocery store and church count as places we are going?)!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite thing this week was....Watching 4 of my kids sweating it out with Jillian Michaels. Typically, only the boys workout but since they finished with P90X they've wanted to try something new so they started doing Jillian's workouts. The girls decided they'd jump in just for the fun.

What's working/not working for us....Setting aside ALL movie time until after dinner has been helping us a ton. We only have the abilities to watch movies of our choice which is great but not when one child finishes with their school and decides to watch a movie. That always interferes with the other kids. Just knowing there is a movie on somewhere creates a loss of attention. Even though the movie is on in another room. So now, NO movies until all school and chores are DONE!

Questions/thoughts I have....This one just kills me!! It's a new twist on the same ole story of trying to get a new roll of toilet paper changed out once one is empty. Around here we have a certain someone, or someones, not sure yet on the who is doing it. What happens is that once the roll is empty, the cardboard roll gets taken off and thrown away but then they put the holder back into place before putting another roll on it. And yes, 99% of the time there are fresh rolls on the shelf which sits right next to the holder. Yep, this one has me baffled for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things I'm working on....Making sure the motorcycle gets out of my dining room and doesn't return! Our son's new toy just could not possibly spend it's first night outside in the cold! He told me I was a being a good trooper to let him have the opportunity to sit and look at it without freezing his little b*m off outdoors! And of course everyone HAD to sit on it! I would like to add - First there is NO carpet in our house! Second, eons ago when hubby and I were first married and had 2 small children we lived on the bottom floor of a condo in Colorado. He bought a motorcycle and just couldn't bear leaving it outside all winter with no garage or anything and he brought it indoors. (after MUCH discussion, coaxing, and buttering up to me!) We had a second bathroom that was never used since our children were so small and one in diapers as well and I guess I really didn't see what it would hurt. You know what they say?The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

I'm cooking/baking....Need I say more?

I'm grateful for....The latest small snowfall. We've not gotten nearly as much as we have in winters past and I worry about ground water come spring. We've still not had one day of sledding as the shortage of snow has made it impossible.

I'm praying for....Faith

A photo or quote to share - William Penn told the Russian Czar, Peter the Great, that "if thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God, and to do that, thou must be ruled by him." Penn also said that "those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

I've always loved this picture of oldest daughter and baby number 11