It's the little things that count

If you were a child of mine you would hear that phrase lots. I believe with all my heart that it is the little things that count. It is remembering special days, sending cards, making a simple phone call, chocolates on the pillows (Ashley recently did this for us on our visit to her place), hugs, kisses, handwritten notes, cheap mini-vacations, drives with the children, little hands placed in mine unexpectedly, tickling a child, popcorn in mom and dads bed, playing hidden objects games with all the little ones crowded around, teenagers hangin out in our room to talk about their day and so much more.
The older I become the more effort I put into working on the "little things" or better stated I am noticing and/or acting more on the little things.

October seemed to fly by as I look back on it all. This semester in college has been draining to say the least but I have seen my dear family come to the forefront and do more to help me out than I deserve. Little girls have brought up trays of tea and treats while I studied, Tom has washed countless dishes and prepared countless meals upon HIS insistence, and the younger children have shared how they "prayed for mommy to get a good test grade" more than once. I am humbled so much to be so blessed.

Home school is moving exceptionally well this year and everyone is staying on track. I have graduated all to the reading stage and am working on just the fluency stage for the last couple of children.

We had a nice trip to Ashley's in Virginia Beach for a weekend and the children played in the ocean (even though it was very cold), played two long games of putt, putt golf and just enjoyed hanging out with their sister and nephew Markus. I personally enjoyed all the Grammy time and marvel at how much a child grows when you do not see them everyday.

We ended the month with a trip to the Perry zoo, which is a local small zoo, and the children just love that place. You can feed most all of the animals and we just enjoyed the ride there looking at the leaves and scenery and then stopping by at a local famous tourist attraction, the turtle. This rock that looks naturally like a turtle was painted several years ago to look even more like a turtle and about every couple of years someone gives it a different paint job. Some years have been great and others average, this year was an average paint job but the children enjoyed it none the less.

Tom has been using more of his culinary skills and has been on a soup producing binge so now the freezer is full of broccoli soup, clam chowder and lobster bisque. Not sure when his next cooking class is but I almost can't wait to see what we get to try next!

Being a mom is so hard at times and this month has reminded me of it more than ever. My failings and shortcomings seemed to overtake my triumphs and this has made me ever so thankful that I serve such a loving and understanding God.

A week of wonders

This week started out just unbelievable. Monday I schooled the children in the morning then went to a United Way meeting luncheon. Ended up chairing that meeting and then heading to college for some tutoring help with my Algebra class. Got myself underway there and left just in time to head back home to change clothes to help with a fundraiser for a friend that is running for the House of Representatives. The governor was coming in to show his support for him also so the place was packed. I did get the opportunity to talk with the governor again as we have spoken in the past about foster/adoption issues. After being social for way too long :) I was able to slip out and go home.
Tuesday it was the start of music lessons for the children and we added in the last three this year so all seven younger ones are now in lessons. We did 1/2 day of school before leaving though so that makes the day even more productive. After lessons we came home and I hopped into the car and headed out to college class (Algebra tonight). Home late again.
Wednesday the older children stayed home to do school while I took the youngest 4 to the dentist for cleanings. As soon as I came home I had to unpack 4 and pack one child (17yo son) into the car. I thought he had strep as his throat was full of blister but fortunately he has another type of bacterial infection and is now on antibiotics! Home again only to pack ALL my college books into the car and leave for school so I could make up a test I missed last week when I was ill. Finished the test, worked on homework and went to Teacher Education class.... home late again.
During all this time my dear hubby has been fixing meals, checking on my homework progress and keeping me going all while working several overtime hours himself for his job. Can I just say how wonderful he is here? Lets just say we are both looking forward to a night out together and this weekend we are invited to a wine dinner and are taking advantage of the invite.
The real blessing to all of this craziness is that through it all the children have just stepped up to the plate with Hannah (13yo) asking if she and Destini (10yo) can take over the laundry because they really like doing it. Gee... let me think about this? Hmmm... 3 loads of laundry 6 days a week... I guess if they reeeaaalllyy want too! I keep walking over to the laundry area thinking I need to start a load and tada there is no laundry! This is very sweet indeed!
With all this busyness I am even more appreciative that I am a homeschooling mom. I love being at home and working on all the projects I have going, cooking, cleaning and all the monotonous jobs that go with it!

addition

Forgot to explain one of the pictures. The dog has pieces of a game laying on him. The game is Some-body and it is all about body parts. Well.....give some homeschool children a game like this and they will find a live specimen instead of the cardboard one. The dog just laid there taking it all in.

summer is winding down and fall is taking over

The last few weeks have been very busy scurring about with the tail end of produce season. Our local heritage day celebration in the town was last week too and that had me making breakfast for 200 at the firehall, making lunch for 175 and fitting in some time to walk around our town to see what the venders had for sale. I ended up purchasing a miser's purse that was hand crocheted. It will be a nice accessory for next years reinactment costume that I am working on for me. Hannah wore one that I made 3 years ago for her sister and her friend wore one that I made 2 years ago. Our summer was very tied up so I was unable to make new dresses this year.
College classes are going way better than expected. I am actually learning to like Algebra and the other two are just great.
My dear grandson called today (via mommy) and babbled to me. Oh what joy it is being a grammy. I am watching him grow so quickly and look forward to seeing him.
This week was also recovery week as I had severe allergies that then settled into my chest. I am still coughing but thankful that it was not a virus. The children were all so worried about me and I ask them why? They proceeded to let me know that I NEVER got sick and what was the world coming to with MOM being down!
Oh 2 weeks ago Tom decided to take us on a spur of the moment fun day and drove us to Black Water Falls. We had a great time going up and the children love seeing the falls. After some time at the falls we stopped by Mt. Storm lake and let them wade in the water that is always very warm. We packed a lunch and just had a great family time. I love it when he gets one of his wild hairs!
This week looks like overload with meetings, speaking presentations, dentist appointments and the start of music lessons. The end of the week will be great though as I have a date with my hubby and Garrett was asked to go to homecoming with a young lady (that i like very much). Glad I am not in control of my time or I would really be in a sling!
Oh also included photos of my living room redo. Amazing what a $15 dollar can of floor paint will do and rearranging what you already own.

what a weekend!!

The zoo trip was just perfect! The weather was great, the zoo was way more than we expected and there were so many bonus' to the trip that we know for certain God had it all planned for us.

We started out by arriving at the zoo and heading up the escalator to the entrance. You have to know Pittsburgh and understand that everything there is built on a hill. Most of the children have never been on an escalator so you can imaging the craziness getting everyone on and then watching them as we go up. They were falling all over themselves and Tom and I were doubled over laughing at the sight of it all.

Next, we watched in amazement as the children light up all over at the sight of all the animals we saw. The elephants and the penguins were some of the favorites. We came at just the right time for feeding for several of the animals so we were able to watch them eat. We watched a show that had small animals (hedgehog, skenk lizard and others) and the children were able to pet them and really see them up close.

Then we visited the African area and had our picture taken with a 3 year old elephant. We were petting her afterwards and the children thought they had just died and gone to animal heaven.

As if that was not enough, we watched the polar bear eating, the penguins interact with the children, and the seals interacting too. The kangaroos so close you could touch them, the stingray petting area (yes, you can actually pet stingrays and these ones loved to be touched)and the sharks swimming over the heads of the children in the water tunnels.

We went to my parents afterwards and the next day it was kite flying, the slip-n-slide and a fire with marshmallows.

God knew that we have a busy school year ahead for the children and for me and we felt so blessed to be able to have this little slice of fun before finishing the canning season, starting homeschool and starting back to college.

The children were so overwhelmed by the weekend they just begged to go back soon. Fortunately the ticket sales person at the zoo suggested we buy a year membership and saved us about $30 off admission so now we can visit as much as we want in the next year. Did I mention how blessed we felt.

Canning this week so I will post the results, good and bad and how my college classes measure up to my liking and of course the homeschool happenings!

leaving one zoo for another!

After days of canning everything possible we are retreating for the weekend to visit my parents and to take the children to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

I cannot believe all the wonderful jars of goodness that are bursting out of the pantry. More beans, blackberry jams, and salsa along with dried nectarines rounded out this week. I will have more to do next week including peaches, more corn, lots more salsa and some zucchini made into crushed pineapple. I know sound weird but it tastes just like it!

My dear sweetie made supper tonight (BLTs) so I was able to get stuff together for the weekend and tie up some loose ends.

The children all packed their backpacks with goodies to keep them busy for the trip and then the older ones helped the Little's pack their clothes. They also worked on laundry and did all the house chores so we can come home to a tidy house.

Next week is official homeschooling and I start back to college. I am hoping for a better semester than last and count it as one more down.

some of the children are finishing their shower, some are already in bed and my hubby is waiting for some wife time :) and all extra produce was just picked up so off for an early start on a fun weekend.

This is the day that the Lord has made...

A much needed refreshing Lord's day here at the Big House. Tom has worked so much he decided on a family worship day.

Yesterday I went with him on a loonngg ride on the motorbike. We put in well over 300 miles and it was a great ride to de-stress him after so many 16 hour working days. I often just watch the stress melt away off his back and see his muscles relax as we ride. I was ever so thankful for the children letting us go. Hannah had them all bathed and in bed when we came home. Garrett graciously picked up our produce order and now I have salsa and pickling to look forward to for this week.

The large Rhino beetle is still a visitor here even though he did manage to escape his quarters for a brief time. Miriam brought me a roly poly bug as I was having some bible study time on the porch. I told her to just feed him to our bearded dragon lizard but she was not too happy about my suggestion. Hannah is under the weather today so I think some game playing will be in order instead of swimming.

I also plan on working in some knitting time. I joined the hat of the month club (at Millicents yarns) in March and I am behind a hat. I like the fact that they are portable so I can take them places to work on. There has only been one that I do not care for and I plan on replacing that pattern with a Tam style. I figure that if I do one hat a month until next March I will have a hat made for everyone in the family!