Vacation Bible School 2014

Ivy doing a team dance to the song Jesus, What a Friend

 When I heard my church was going to be having another Vacation Bible School this summer, I couldn't wait!  I've always, always wanted to work with kids and especially it's been a huge desire to help with VBS.

Here is our VBS video! 

VBS 2014 - Jungle Safari from New Heights Church on Vimeo.

You can see Ryan and I at the end of the video dancing with the kids.  Ryan is just scooting along in his scooter keeping up with all the kids.  He had such a  good attitude being a leader with me.  I'm the second person in the video to get a pie in the face.  LOL.  There was actually someone getting something for those 5 days.  It was an offerings contest and the money was counted every night to see if the boys or girls one.  Well, the girls only won the first night with the most money given.  Well, I got pied on the Tuesday night!  It was so gross and fun at the same time.  

 

Me in the back and Ryan as a team leader in the black shirt

Working with kids is a big deal for me because it's been my desire for many years.  I know I have my own kids.  Ha ha.  What I mean is, working with kids to teach them like I was taught many years ago.  I have very, very good memories of learning while young in sunday school and children's church.  Kids have very soft hearts and this is the time to reach them. 

My cute Caleb (4)

Little Caleb was in mine and Ryan's class.  Boy, he's such a cutie.  

Ashley (6)

My little Caleb on the right and me in the background holding our team flag

Kyle reading a scripture to the VBS kids

I'm getting a pie in my face here.  :D

Kyle reading a scripture to the kids

It was an amazing time!!!

Refreshing in My Spirit - New Beginnings

I'm feeling hope rise up in me again that I had lost long ago.  I guess the best way to say it is I felt spiritually dead on the inside.  When you lose that first love and you only go to church because you have to, it becomes just another task.  Also, the longing to work with kids has been so big in my heart for so long that it was nagging me on the inside.  I'm 34 and have waited for 14 years to work with kids. Last Sunday I visited a new church and I was a bit nervous.  I don't skip around just over silly things or passing offenses so this was a big, big deal to us.  It's hard to not have a critical eye and start judging everything around me.  I decided to come with an open heart and was just aching to receive from God.  It had been so long since I really felt God tugging at my heart.  They showed me the kid rooms and I was excited to find out there were classes for ALL my kids!  My teen boys had their own curriculum.  My baby had a nursery.  My toddlers had their own room and the kids in between had children's church.  They were being taught at their level and their understanding which is huge because this is the developing stage.  A really important molding stage for my kids.  No longer would the teaching go over their head, it would be taught at their level of understanding and it's every service!  Beforehand, I had looked online to see if I agreed with their beliefs but I still had to see for myself.  Three things were really important to me on top of the doctrine.  They believe in tithes and offerings, outreach to invite people to church, and giving people at chance at the end of service to accept Christ in their heart.  Yes!  I was excited to see all three!  Another thing that bugs me is getting hugged.  LOL.  I don't like guys chasing me around for hugs and I've had that happen to me when I've visited other churches.  People only shook our hands.  Phew!  They told me in the future I was completely welcome to work with kids and my heart jumped for joy.  I've waited for 14 years to do that and finally I would have the opportunity!  Praise God!  It's obvious I love kids because I have many of my own but it'd be a pleasure to teach others too.  I was able to sit alone with my husband and not have any distractions.  Usually I spend a good amount of the sermon trying to correct a toddler, tell a kid to be quiet, or taking a kid potty.  This time I just got to sit down and really listen.  The sermon really touched my heart and I felt a refreshing in my spirit I hadn't felt for awhile.  Not anyone's fault but mine!  It's just that the sermon was at my level and easy to understand.  Not meaning to make myself sound dumb.  Haha.  I mean, it just met me where I'm at in the stage of my life now.  The kids learned a lot at each of their levels and they are excited to go back.  I hadn't heard them be so excited about church before.  That makes my heart happy.  :) When I had these kids I promised to give them to God, to give the best chance possible to get to know Him.  The molding stage is the most important and I'm so excited for them. 

I'm No Supermom...Not by a Long Shot

I'm doing some research before I make a final decision about this upcoming school year. Basically, my kids are spoiled.  I think they are spoiled rotten at times.  Deprived you say?  Bwahaha!  My kids have memberships to the huge 3 story science center, a zoo membership, gym membership.  They don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn and they get to leasurely eat breakfast every morning.  While they lazily sip on their morning hot tea, they are either listening to a family bible study by me or watching an educational video.  School comes some time around 10am or maybe starts at 11am.  Depends on when mom's brain wakes up.  That only comes after a good dose of coffee.  They get done in a few hours, maybe only two if they really concentrate, and then they start their chores.  If they are lazy about it they finish in an hour.  When they are really good at it they are done in only a half hour.  Yeah, young ones have dissected and learned the insides of some animals before most kids ever get to.  It's weird having a five year old depressed because her older brother got to dissect a frog before she could.  Yeah, my kids have it amazingly good.  I don't have to worry about late nights at church and having to rush them to bed because of school in the morning.  We have such a good life. 

Do you think my kids would be at my feet thanking me for the good life they have?  Noooooo.... they think schooling takes too long and chores take to long.  They've completely forgotten their days of public school that they hated, hated, hated.  They hated the long days, hunger, and bullying. They hated getting lost in the system because the teacher had moved on before they were ready.  They hated the hurried lunches and the lame 5 minute recess.  Did you know they've cut recess waaaaaay down?  When I was a kid we had a good 20 minutes-30 minutes of recess.  I needed to get all that energy out.  I'm sure my teacher begged the principal to give me Benadryl each day.  Something to knock me out so she could peacefully teach the rest of the class.  A week ago I told them I wasn't sure about another year of homeschooling because they aren't appreciating it.  They all cried and hung on my leg.  Please noooooo!  I took a deep breath.  I thought about it while doing cardio at the gym, I thought about it while lifting weights.  I thought about it while swimming my midnight laps.  I thought about it while showering, eating, and just before dozing off.  I ran into a book that just made my heart leap for joy....

Click here to see on Amazon

Wow!  This is about 15 different families that are all in different situations and all homeschool differently.  I needed a way to keep the attention of my kids and it seems what I'm doing isn't working.  It's just not as exciting for them.  I've been devouring this book and can hardly put it down.  There are those perfect parents who seem like they have it all together and their three year old is learning calculus and then there are the ones.... like me.... that give so much to the kids that I'm just happy to shower that day.  Do you know why I go to workout at the gym after the kids are asleep?  Because that's when I have the time.  When I go it's usually 9:30pm-12:30am.  No, I don't sleep in all day.  Heck, I'm writing this at 2am because it's the only time I've had yet I still have to get up with the early risers.

I woke up to this the other day. Juliet trying to figure out how to get
out of her crib.  Okay, she's 12 months! Help!

I get excited when I find a book that just lifts my spirits when I'm lagging inside.  I don't have a homeschool co-op or a support group.  I wish I could have those cheer leaders on the sidelines but I don't.  I have to just keep my faith in God, relying on His strength, my mind in constant study, and my heart resting in God's grace.  That is the only way I can give sooooooooooo much of myself every day without cracking.  I'm no supermom.  Ha...  By a long shot.  I'm related to some but I'm not one.  I just have to work super hard.

 

Good news!  I'm down 10lbs!!!  Aaaaaagh!  NO CARBS and lots and lots of juicing and vegetables.  White meat more than red meat.  I'm learning to make really yummy food and I can eat LOTS of it!  I will share soon on a great Souperman food I now make. Get it?  It's a soup but man, oh man, is it packed of good stuff.  Superman himself might be knocking on my door soon for the recipe. 

Living in an Unwanted Fish Bowl- Large Families in Public

Today I got a chance to talk to my dad and that doesn't happen often.  So naturally when he calls I run to the phone as fast as I can.  Otherwise I won't talk to him or another 4 or 5 days or so.  He's a hard worker for sure.  I've never in my life seen anyone work as hard as him with little or no complaint.  Today we were talking about personality types and how there are four different types.  He said there is the social extrovert, the demanding (something like that), the analytical, and something else (can't remember).  I asked what I am and he quickly said the social extrovert.  I'm not sure that's me anymore. 







Alllll growing up I loved being social with anyone, any animal, anything that moved.  Ha ha.  I had no problem talking in front of big crowds of people, singing, acting on a stage, or getting to know any person and was very comfortable making new friends.  Then.... my rose colored glasses began to be lifted.  Kids, if handled with care, wear rose colored glasses.  They don't imagine that walking down the street could bring harm or that terrible things can happen.  Everywhere they go is an adventure and they don't have the worries us parents have. 

Somehow over time my rose colored glasses were lifted and I saw life in a harsher light and so I had to wear my shades.  I saw how vicious girls (women) can be as far as judging each other's bodies, homemaking skills, talents, etc.  Instead of accepting each other for differences and seeing the beauty in it, judgements are made. 



Large family mamas fall into a special category because of being put into a fishbowl.  It doesn't matter where we go we have people staring at us, watching our ability to handle our children, and seeing how the kids interact with each other.  I don't blame them because I would do the same.  I love to watch how mamas do it with so many kids.  It's fascinating.  The hard part is hearing the comments.  You don't know whether you're gonna hear harsh words or kind words.  Over the years I've begun to pull myself into a protective shell.  I'm not sure how healthy it's been.  I don't like being watched and this week was particularly hard because I had extra kids.  I went to IKEA with 10 kids and I felt like I was part of a circus I didn't want to be in.  I like to SEE the circus but not be part of the act.  It's easy to want attention when you never get it because you have a couple of kids but I get it every little place I go.  My old friends from the past have no idea how shy I've become.  They are used to loud Jenny who doesn't mind the spotlight.  However, when you are hurt, whether attacked in person, online, through anonymous hate mail, by family, or what used to be good friends, it's easy to slide into a shell like a turtle for protection.  I hate that I've become this person. 

 

I know people say, "Well, you're the one that has a blog.  That's what put you in a fish bowl."  True.  However, I meant it as a journal escape for myself and also a way to document changes in my life.  I just love to write whether I had no followers or 1,000.  I love followers!  Mostly I have amazing followers.  Whether they are stalker followers.  People that visit secretly but never let me know they came.  Admirers that have this vision I'm the perfect homemaker but don't really know me as a person.  Friends that know me in real life and come to visit every now and then.  Haters that come just to have something to fume about.  Then I have the faithful followers, blogging friends I met online years ago that I've enjoyed hearing from and love to also visit their blog.  ;)  I've helped to put myself in a fish bowl because of blogging and I know that.  However, that's not a bother.  Mostly it's just being out in public... in real life. 

I promise you that I never intend to make myself appear as someone different.  I might withhold things to protect myself and my kids and because some things are just no one's business.  I have been accused of pretending to show a perfect side but believe me, I just blog because I love to blog.  I don't blog for applause, or a show.  I blog about what I love and care about.  I blog about our adventures or misadventures.  I don't blog because I need to air out my dirty laundry nor do I look for sympathy or praise.  You know you are a true blogger when you can't imagine going a day without getting things off your mind and onto your blog. I have a secret blog no ones knows about.  Not even my bestest of friends. :) 

I think it's time I ask God for help in opening up my heart again and not being so afraid to be watched.  After all, about 80% of comments I get are positive when in public.  "The kids are respectful, well behaved, act good in a restaurant, and can sit still."  It's those few weirdos that are just angry I have more than 3 kids and have to give the evil eye or say something.  I can't let the small percentage get to me.  I know I say that but I need to practice it.  Having a tough shell without it being a hard shell if you know what I mean.  After all, I'd rather have smile wrinkles than sad ones. 

 



Like it or not, I am in a fish bowl.  "God, can you just paint it a little rose colored... for me?" 

A Detailed Chore Chart for Large Families-Works for Us!

I've had some people ask if I would show what kinds of chores each kid does everyday.  So I figured I'd take a picture of the cards and post them here.  I really believe that each child should have a specific chore because if clear lines aren't drawn then the older could end up doing the bulk of the work. Then I'd see the younger trying to get away with a lot.  This way I can see who did their chore and who did not.  It starts every day in the To Do folder and as each chore is done they go down into the Finished folder.  :)



Starting with youngest to oldest.  Here is 3 year old Caleb's card.

 

 

Here are 5 year old Ashley's cards below:

 

 

7 year old Ivy's chore cards below:

 

 

9 year old Kyle's chore cards below:

 

 

11 year old Ryan's chore cards below:

 

 

12 year old Chaz's chore cards below:

 

 

If they don't finish their chores and homeschool by 3:30pm then they get to pick from the Extra Chore list to add to their regular chores:

 

 

Here is another list we have posted.  The two top ones are for me.  I have a schedule for clothes being washed.  They know to have the clothes they need washed in the hamper by their scheduled day or mama doesn't wash it.  The weekly chores is the extra chores I do on top of my regular daily chores.  The bottom is Saturday chores for all of us. :)

 

 

Hope this helps!

 

We have been following this system for five years and absolutely love it. Each kid is held accountable for their own area.  We pay for the chores they do to understand working.  They aren't paid a lot because I really feel these things should be done to be taught responsibility.  The other part of me wants for them to understand the reward of hard work and how someday they'll be working for money.  That's why we don't pay a lot but enough to help them see the reward.  They get paid biweekly like daddy does.  Some kids spend it right away and others save it for bigger things. :)

 



Surprises Kids Leave on Your Camera

My kids have been getting a hold of my camera a lot lately.  I seriously need to get them their own cameras to be creative. They make videos and take pictures.  I'm always in for some surprises every time I load all the pictures on to my computer.  Here are a few of the funny ones... Of course I edited them for better color.

Above: Ashley put on goggles to look at the new doggy bone brought into the house for our big Great Dane.  

I guess goggles make it so much safer to get near it.

Ashley posing with a kitchen tool.  

Little chihuahua watching big Henry eat a bone.  That's how I feel when I see my husband eat a candy bar and I can't have one.

Above: Kyle wanted to send a video of him singing happy birthday to a friend.  Not a good quality video but creative and funny.  LOL.  I didn't know he was making this but it was pretty darn cute.

Caleb waking up in the morning....

Juliet and Caleb in a bucket

Even though I have to wade through hundreds of photos from the kids, there are a few great treasures in them.  :)  I need to give them the camera more often.

Kyle relaxing on his bed.  Some day he's gonna mention all the teddy bears behind him.  I think he was trying to look cool in this picture.  Soooo cute though with the teddy bears.  

Today is a Brand New Day

Ohhhh, yesterday was a bad day.  I had a really bad headache from the time I woke up and it only mildly went down before bedtime that night.  It got so bad I had to just go in my room and sleep during the day.  Charles was home so I was able to.  I got up around 5pm only to find out that Charles now had a bad migraine and had to lay down.  His was really bad and he couldn't get up till night time several hours later.  Poor guy.  :(  Needless to say we had to miss church and our sleep schedule got all mixed up.  I dislike days like that because we couldn't homeschool or do chores.  Looking at my work load and not feeling well made me eventually cry. Not like crazy crying, just sit-on-the-bed-and have-one-tear kinda cry.  3 year old Caleb walked up to me and asked really sad, "What's wrong, Mom?  Did Daddy give you a spankin'?"  Oh my goodness, that was so cute I smiled, gave him a big hug, and was back on my feet in a jiffy.  Kids are so cute.

Do you know what it's like to have a large family and not do chores on a DAILY basis?  I bet a lot of you know!  Ha ha.  Lots of kids makes for LOTS of messes.  Since everyone was thrown off their time schedule we were all up at midnight.  Charles actually called for all the kids to do their chores.  I had to chuckle because who makes kids do chores at midnight?  They were happy because they were full of energy and mommy always blasts fun music when it's chore time.  I'm sure if the neighbors heard music blasting, kids laughter, and a mom's voice singing loudly, they would wonder why in the world there is so much racket at midnight.  Oh well!  

Whenever I've had a really, really bad day I always tell myself that this is a day all in of itself.  The bad does not have to bleed into the next.  Every morning I wake up and say, "This is a brand new day!"  It is!  Let the worries from yesterday stay in the past and let tomorrow take care of itself.  Today is a new day.  Today I will once again pray that work comes into my husband's office so Charles can go in.  Today I'm grateful that my kids have not yet grown up and moved out but they are still under my wings.  Today I still have my girls that love to twirl around in their costumes and my boys that still like to play soldiers.  I still have my baby that smiles every time mommy walks into view.  Thank goodness.  Today is a brand new day.

The World from a Child's View

Today we are going back to the Kroc center where the kids go swimming.  We haven't gone since Ivy got burned because she wasn't allowed to get her bandage wet.  Well, our recent visit to the burn ward said she is healed and now we just have to make sure it's not exposed to the sun.  Well, the Kroc center has an indoor water park so that's perfect for us!  I love going during the day while all the other kids are in school because it's so quiet there.

It's hard to not constantly want to find fun activities for my kids. Seeing them be adventurous and enjoy everything in the city makes my heart joyous.  It's so neat to look at the world through their eyes.  This month my kids will be dissecting an octopus at the science center. I decided this time it'll just be the older boys so the little ones aren't being distracting.  We'll go around and experience everything in the center.  I don't really want to smell the dead octopus anyway.  Heh heh... Yesterday we were heading somewhere with the kids and when I had to stop for gas Ryan mentioned he wanted to clean the windows.  It's so much easier to just say "No, no, no" all the time but I remember what it was like to be a kid.  Charles said it's scary how much I remember.  Feelings, smells (remember onions to a kid?), how the world looked from the view of a child.  Sometimes it's easier to constantly say no to kids because it's just easier.  I went ahead and let Ryan which made it take longer to leave the gas station but I got clean windows out of it and Ryan was happy.  I have to remember that when kids ask to help, I should be careful to not always say no.  Their teen years are coming after all and I'm not sure they'll be so quick to volunteer.  :D  I remember one time offering to wash the dishes when I was a kid. When a relative saw I wasn't doing the best job, they told me not even to bother.  So I didn't.  I never volunteered again.

Kyle's

Ryan's

I found this awesome site (Great Products) that sells some really cool products.  I ordered three shirts from them and plan on getting several more.  They are not telling me to write this, I just love the site and wanted to share.  :D  Here are the three shirts I ordered so far since they are having a major sale on them.  I ordered them according to personality.  Kyle loves rock music, Ryan's always trying to act like a ninja and Chaz likes zombies even though we don't let him watch those kinds of movies.  LOL.

Chaz's

I really want them to make a bumper sticker that shows a bunch of kids or something and says, "This is OUR party bus."  From the oustside you can hear music, kids laughing, singing, and mommy and daddy trying to talk over the noise.

The Need to Feel Needed - Don't Most Women Desire This?

I haven't blogged because nothing bothers me more than being told I am not allowed to blog about a certain thing I'm going through.  I have always blogged my heart and for my kids.  I love to see the changes and seasons of my life.  I am not one to lay my life out on the table for everyone to see but I'm also not one that tries to be fake in any way.  I have stalker readers that report me to people or family if I ever say anything they don't like.  It's really weird, I know.  But a family member will call me up and say, "I got a phone call for so and so and she said you blogged about this."  Argh.  Drives me crazy. 

I'm taking a different direction in my life because I've been at a stand still for a very long time.  I want to talk about it without putting anyone or place in a bad light.  This place is a very good place.  VERY, VERY good place.  However, just because a place can function very well, doesn't mean it's perfect.  Hello!  What place is?  :)  Sometimes someone can be in the middle of a lot of people and feel completely lonely.  Watching people around you make plans with each other for 13 years yet never ask you.  Ministry wise, I've always had a strong desire to work with kids.  I love kids obviously.  I have very good memories of people giving their time and love to training me up in Christ.  They have had a huge impact on my life. I would love to give back or pay it forward.  I am 34 and still haven't been able to no matter how much I've tried.  I've never been a chair warmer.  I grew up learning to be involved and go getter.  To make things happen.  Not just to be an observer and receiver.  My parents taught me to be a giver, not just a taker.  So why did I feel like I do after 13 years of just being not much more than a chair warmer?  Because that's not the kind of person I am.  I have tried and tried to get more involved and there just hasn't been room for me to help. God knows I've desired to do more because He's heard my cries and seen my tears.  Fortunately, the place I'm going to now has been very, very blessed to have so many giving people that there isn't much room for me to squeeze in somewhere.  But I think that's a wonderful problem to have, right?  I'm just seriously lonely somehow in the midst of it.  I need to feel needed.  A part of something.  Like I belong.  Being a chair warmer has made me feel like an outsider.  Partly my fault because I'm not a pushy person that HAS to have my way.  I can't be like that.  Some women can be very vocal in wanting their way.  I will offer but if I get turned down year after year I finally just quit asking.  The problem is I feel like I'm fading away and I don't like that feeling. 

I'm searching..... waiting..... praying.....  Wanting to do what is right.  I want to make people happy and stay faithful but without sacrificing myself in the process.  If I'm dying on the inside I have to do SOMETHING.  In the light of eternity, my relationship with God is the most important ever and if I feel like that is in Jeopardy, I would be a fool not to stop and evaluate.  To make a change. Not because I feel like one place is bad and another better, but only because I feel like I fit in better like a puzzle piece that fits.  Hope that makes sense because it does to me.  :) 

Ivy's 7th Birthday Party Fun and Build-a-Bear

The kids were throwing around a bouncy ball in the house.  I said to them, "If you guys keep hitting my expensive guitar I'm gonna have a cow."  So Kyle says, "Mommy, you're gonna have a cow?"  Then Ivy hears him and starts shouting "Guess what, everyone?  Mommy is gonna have a cow!  That means we can have our own milk to drink.  Yay!"  I had to reel that one in quick.  Ha ha.  No, mommy ain't havin' no cow.

We celebrated Ivy's 7th birthday at Makutu's Island and had so much fun.  I am kicking myself for forgetting to go on my favorite slide.  It's really steep and I always fly really far when I come out.  It's kind of embarrassing actually but so worth the fun.

We took Ivy and her friend Cassidy to Build-a-Bear.  We love that place and visit there quite often.  In fact, back at Christmas time they had a special where they double the gift card value that you buy. We paid $20 but got $40 worth and saved it for Ivy's birthday which was going to be seven months later.  So when I went the other day I used those, plus a $10 off coupon.  The register rang everything out to $50.26.  After I handed her gift cards and coupons I only had to pay .26 out of my own pocket.  Patience paid off.  :)  I hope they do that promotion again with the gift cards because it's perfect to hold onto for birthdays.

The boys have finally outgrown Build-a-bear and so I mostly just have the girls that care.  I turned to Charles the other day and said, "I think having girls is gonna cost you."  He smile and said "It's okay.  They are worth it."

By the way, funny story.  I just got a FedEx package dropped of which was the router I ordered from Amazon.  However, the receipt that came with it says "Thank you for ordering 40 ovulation tests."  Hmmm... I don't need help getting pregnant but thank you anyway.