joyfulmotherof5

Recently we went on a nature hike and I read a friend’s post on Nature Studies and how overwhelming teaching all of the nature sciences seemed–Botany, Zoology, Biology– but if you change just one word, Nature into CREATION studies, everything seems magnificent.  Creation points to it’s creator.

The following is a poem in praise of the God of creation by biochemistry Professor Walter Hearn.
SCIENTIST’S PSALM — by Walter Hearn, Ph. D.

Praise the Lord, created thing!
Let all space with praises ring!
Space itself, Hosanna sing
Unto God, Jehovah, King!

I Particles in smallest cracks,
Known but by emulsion tracks:
Let all mesons praise Messiah!
Songs of praise mount ever higher!

Alpha, beta, gamma rays:
Join the chorus of His praise!
Be you ultimate or not,
All created, all begot.

Parity’s been overthrown–
Something He had always known,
Antimatter, fragments odd,
Quantum jumps to praise our God.

II Now from unexplored domains
Up to where the atom reigns;
Forged from state once hyperdense,
Praise your Maker, elements!

Atoms of increasing mass,
Nuclei from solar gas,
Orbital electrons twinning:
Praise the God who set you spinning!

Rare-earth metal, halogen,
Amorphous glass or crystalline,
Solid, liquid, vapor phase:
Join in everlasting praise!

III Molecules from atoms made
According to plans He laid:
Praise the God of Angstrom units!
God of Abraham — and Kunitz!

Carbon compounds by the score,
Hundreds, thousands, millions more;
Helical configuration
Structured into God’s creation.

Proteins now and DNA,
Intertwining overlay;
Prototype of living cell:
Praise the God of Israel!

IV Viruses and protozoa:
Praise the faithful God of Noah!
Coral on the ocean shelf:
Praise the God of life itself!

Mildew, mosses, redwood trees,
Birds in air and fish in seas.
Crawling cockroach, roaring lion!
Praise Jehovah, God of Zion!

Now with man, a new dimension–
Culture, science and invention;
Man who can subdue the earth:
Praise the God who gave you birth!

V Earth we live on, merely one
Planet of a minor sun:
Join this entire galaxy,
Showing forth His majesty!

Beyond our own galactic rim,
Billions more are praising Him.
Ten to some gigantic power
Times the height of Babel’s tower.

Past the range of telescope:
God of Faith and Love and Hope.
Praise Him every tongue and race!
Even those in outer space!
Selah (~Think about that!)

However far space does extend
From beginning unto end,
Praise the God who does transcend!
Every knee before Him bend!

God of whom these words are penned:
Against You only have we sinned.
Almighty Author of creation:
Visit us with Your salvation

Disciplining your children.  Not a fun topic, but a worthwhile pursuit.

I had noticed  a certain 3-year-old girlie of mine terrorizing her siblings.  This wasn’t exactly new, it was just more of the same but worse.  She was really getting out of hand.  How did it get so far? She didn’t throw temper tantrums in the store…not exactly…she just cried and pouted until I gave in.  She didn’t bite other kids…much.  She didn’t run around and hit kids… except for her older brothers & sisters…and only when she was mad….hmm.   Maybe it got so far by my excuses to myself.  The other 4 were behaving well…or were they?

So after cleaning my house the other day, and being so much more content because of it.  I noticed my little one’s behavior.  It was no longer tolerable.  I started out by reminding her of the behavior that was expected, then spanking her for the egregious infractions, but still over looking the little stuff.  Then Daddy came home.  BOY did he ever notice more than I was noticing.

So as was suggested on the Raising Godly Tomatoes website, I kept her right with me for a day, not letting her out of my sight, reminding and/or disciplining her of anything she was doing that went against our rules, and spending extra time with her loving on her and playing with her, and praising her when she did right.

AND…….

Today I have seen more smiles and hugs and obedience than ever.  She is saying “Yes, mam” and obeying quickly.  I tried to help her with her pull-up this morning and I usually get “NO!  I do it! Ngh!”  but this morning I got, “I do it…But thsank you! : )”  Yay!!!

I don’t give the other kids candy hardly ever, but I give it t her quite often, because she asks nicely, but if I don’t she starts a crying fit.  But just now, she asked for some of my candy and when I said no she just smiled, shrugged and walked away.  Wow!

Not fun to discipline, but great are the rewards!

He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.    Proverbs 13:24

We love our friends the Bryants!

Recipe for Smothered Chicken from my Awesome friend Debbie Bryant, who got it from her equally awesome friend Lori.

This dish is the first I have ever cooked by repeatedly reducing it down to concentrate the flavor (besides chili).  I love the process.   It feels like I actually cooked something, but I was able to do other things while it cooks, and not just tend to it constantly.  Yay!

2 lbs. Chicken Breast
1 Onion
1 tsp Garlic-minced
1/2 bottle Worcestershire Sauce
Pepper
Salt
1 tbs Olive Oil
Brown Rice
Tiny thin frozen Green Beans (2 bags)
Butter

*”Brown” Chicken with chopped Onion & minced Garlic in Oil in a large pot.
*Add Worcestershire sauce & enough water to cover.
*Boil, Reduce heat to slow boil
*Keep adding water & reducing 1-1 1/2 hours

*Cook Rice in Rice cooker, Microwave, or however you like it.

*Brown Green beans in Butter & Salt then add water & put lid on to steam.
*Turn down to low; don’t take the lid off until you’re ready to eat.

~You can add pepper when you add the Worcestershire, but I left it out for my kiddos.

SO Yummy!!!!

I got up this morning before the kids. I would love to say it was because I am so great and just floated out of bed to tend to mommy/wifely type things. But no, I was hurried out of bed by Danny needing to know where the duct tape was because the sump-pump was going crazy. After incoherently racing around the house, I finally found it! And hey, now at least I was awake! So I sat down to read my Bible and amazingly enough, no children appeared or needed tended to, so I got to read my devotional book as well with no interruptions. Not how I intended to start my day, but a blessing anyway. Maybe I’ll do it again tomorrow…minus the search for duct tape.

For the Summer, I just started reading “The Light and the Glory for Children (Discovering God’s plan for America from Christopher Columbus to George Washington)” aloud to my kids. When I went to school I had only ever heard that Columbus discovered America by accident.
As I began to homeschool my children, we have never celebrated Columbus day, and some years never even noticed it was on the calendar. I always wondered then why we even had a holiday for him. But as I read the first chapter about a man who had heard from God that he should sail West, how the crew with him urged him to return home, and how he doubted himself and questioned God, I understood. I read that he agreed to turn back on October 9th, 1942 but asked for just 3 more days before he did. And I wept as I read that he prayed to God and the ships sailed faster than reasonable those 3 days and just before dawn on the 3rd day, October 12th, 1942, they spotted land, our land. That they were kind and friendly to those first “Indians” in hopes of telling them of our Savior.

I saw why they could not tell us the true story, they would have to admit that our great country was found by a missionary explorer sent by God to spread the good news. I will tell my children the truth, and this year, we will celebrate Columbus Day.

: ) HI!  I’ve been a bit busy!  Here’s what I’ve been up to!

School’s going good, my birthday was fun, enjoying life…Please pray for Sawyer, he has a fussy tummy almost every evening, and most days. PLEASE pray for him!  Thanks : )

I didn’t realize I had a problem with perfectionism.  I know I did when I was a kid, but thought I was doing SO much better.  Well, it does take me 4 or 5 edits before I am happy with a post, so I guess that’s some pretty hardy perfectionism, but what I learned about myself recently was eye opening.  I ran across a website www.flylady.net that encourages you as a woman, wife, mother and house keeper…a “Home Oragnizer” to just do things for 15 minutes at a time then switch tasks and reward yourself often (with 15 minutes of fun).  The point here is to not burn yourself out on the huge mountain of stuff you have to do. The perfectionist in me (and many of us) is that I want to tackle the WHOLE mountain at once!  It never seemed good enough to do just SOME of the work, or do only what I could get done in 15 minutes.  So usually, I would just do nothing at all, because the mountain was too big!

I PRAY that any of you who feel too busy to keep up with the house, either from working out of the house, or from the stress of always being IN the house, or just have a hard time organizing your time, PLEASE check out this website.  http://www.flylady.net

I just LOVE it!! I have been using the system on the website  (Beginner Baby Steps) for 15 days now and I have done more for my home and kids and myself in the last 15 days than in the last year!!  But only for 15 minutes at a time with fun in between!  My kids are happier because I do not need to nag at them.  They usually help me clean for hours at a time, and do school for hours at  a time, because I could not jump from one task to the other because I want to DO IT ALL right now.  Oh the stress.  But now we are taking little bites at a time and SO much happier with our day and with the work that we have to do.

The baby is only 3 weeks old, and I am still shammin’ (resting) quite a bit!  But for my most recent accomplishments: I have cleaned out my FRIDGE! I usually HATE doing this, but with this system, and the new outlook that comes along with it, I was done in no time, and am SO proud of myself I’m beaming!  Also I have sorted, put away, and thrown away stuff from boxes to total about the size of my COUCH!  All the kids and Danny helped and it was ENJOYABLE!

Seriously, I feel like I’m working LESS than before, but I am OBVIOUSLY getting more done, and I feel less stressed.  I think it is due to just knowing what needs done today and stopping before I’m worn out!  Anyway, the family and I are doing great, and enjoying eachother even more than usual!

Please, even if you just do it to humor me, check out the FlyLady web site! : )

Love you all!

Suzanne

So, How’s it going?…Fantastic!

Sawyer is sleeping 6 or more hours at night, he is nursing well, and only cries when he’s hungry, dirty, tired (which swaddling fixes) or needs to burp. Pretty easy to figure out which is needed.

The kids are being SO careful with the baby. Katie has stopped saying “wake up baby” and has switched to “shh…baby’s sleeping” (Yeah!) Ayden, is just in heaven anytime he gets to touch the baby, and he’s SO gentle. They are all enjoying holding him, but understand when it’s not a good time. And Abigail, with her super organizational skills has been wonderful about picking out clothes for him to wear. Katie is excited to bring me baby diapers, as well as throw them away.

Yesterday was my first full day of being mom of 5 all by myself. It went fantastic! While still healing, and taking it reasonably easy, I got a full day of school done with all 4 of the other kids!!! Woo, Hoo!!

I absolutely HAVE to go to the grocery store today, which is going to involve all 5 kids. Otherwise Sawyer is going to have to wear Katie’s diapers. I wish that was all I needed to buy, too, but it’s not. I was trying to put it off until Danny got home, but it can’t wait. I guess, I will just try to walk slow and try not to freak out on the kids when things go wrong, because they probably will. ~deep breath~

What an endeavor, we’ll see how this goes…who knows, it could be fantastic!

Sawyer has arrived!

We went into the hospital Sunday night, having had contractions most of the day on Sunday, but my water had still not broken (it hasn’t with any of my kids). If I laid on my back or walked I had strong contraction, but if I laid on my side or leaned forward, they all but went away. Danny and I walked around the maternity floor having a great time enjoying each other’s company, since there was no other fun to be had on those walks, but at 2:30 in the morning I told the nurse I was done walking the halls for the night and would sleep until my doctor got there in the morning. I did not think trying to deliver a baby exhausted was a great idea.

Around 7 am the Dr. showed up broke my water. Danny and I had several GOOD laughs at ALL the extra water I had! I had a full-out “oops my water broke” experience 3 separate times! It was hilarious! After another walk or two around the BORING Maternity floor, GREATLY increasing contractions, they were right on top of each other with no time to rest in between, so I asked about an epidural. Of course they said I would have to receive 2 bags of fluid first so I’m like, well…lets start there. The I.V. catheter they had put in after 5 attempts in the middle of the night was now no good, because they had not run anything through it! So they had to start all over!!!! After 2 more attempts on my left arm (my preference) I realized they were running out of places to try so I offered up my right arm. At this point, however, I realized why God had been preparing me not to get an epidural…because (1) it was probably not going to happen, and (2) if it took this many sticks to get in an IV, how hard was it going to be for them to do a risky epidural? So, realizing the epidural was probably not going to happen anyway, I let them continue to try to put an IV in my right arm, because they said extra fluid would space out the contractions. After 7 attempts including 3 “blown” veins on my right arm, they got an IV in!! The extra fluid DID help slow the contractions. NOTE: Wouldn’t letting me drink water for the past several hours have been easier??

Once they got the IV in I asked “SO? Time for the epidural?” To which I got the response that I had already expected…”NO, sorry, honey there isn’t time” After the shocked look on my face wore off, I accepted what I knew God had been telling me all along. NOPE, no epidural.

At this point, we knew the baby’s head was down and that he HAD been Sunny-side-up earlier last night, but were hoping he would turn. So although I was only dilated to 8, I could not help but push, so we started pushing. NOTE: Too much info will be following. So the Dr. “help” dilation along by pushing on the sides of my cervix, (not that uncomfortable) so the baby’s head could come through better. They kept saying he was coming, and how god I was doing staying in control and only pushing WITH the contractions. (Thank you Kristi for that bit of advice, in your blog, to push when you felt like it…and rest other wise, as well as to lean forward)

So we couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t coming out, but I just kept pushing only during contractions. We tried laying, sitting, squatting, while pushing, anything that would help him come down, and he still seemed slow/stuck. After about an hour, he was coming through, and they realized he was sideways. His shoulder got stuck on my pelvis, and at that point they sent a horde of nurses in to push on my belly to add pressure for him to come out. I really felt like that was needed, and am glad they did. So, after bearing his head, I had to also push out his shoulders (quite broad & sideways) then had to push more to get his chest out (just as big as his head). This experience, was not like Abigail, where I pushed out her head and the rest flew out!

SO, after an hour and a half of pushing, Sawyer was born! (the rest of my kids took just 3 pushes). My eyes were closed most of the time I was delivering, including when they were making sure he was breathing, and until they laid him on my chest, and when I delivered the placenta. I held him a while, but was so tired from pushing that I didn’t see much of him but his face. Finally I told the nurse she could weigh him and wrap him up for me, (and give him back). She must have seen how big he was, because, before she put him on the scale, she asked “How much were you hoping for?” Thinking of the picture of the sumo baby, I was like “Well, not 9 pounds” To which she turned the scale around and said, “Well, he’s not 9 pounds! You skipped right over 9!” I thought I was seeing things! I asked Danny to tell me what it said, and he wasn’t sure either. We read, together…”10 lbs, 1.4 oz?”

Yep! No wonder the kid wasn’t coming out! 10+ pounds and sideways! I just praise God that he came out healthy! I asked the doctor when had she stitched me up from the episiotomy, and she said, “You didn’t have one.” Now, this doctor’s middle NAME is episiotomy, so I assumed I tore, then, she adds “You didn’t need one, and you didn’t tear either.” NOW THAT’S GOD!!! 10+ pound kid, sideways, and NO tearing or episiotomy!?! No credit to me of course, just God. I would have gotten an epidural. OH, so the doctor tells, me, had I gotten an epidural, I probably would not have been able to push as effectively as I did. (That most likely would have ended me up with a c-section.)

I truly feel that although I did not have a completely painless childbirth, I did have the experience God wanted me to have this time with this child. I continually prayed for His best, and that I would trust Him for whatever that was. But that I really wanted (1) the baby to live, (2) no c-section, and if possible (3) no epidural, and ideally (4) no episiotomy, and (5) Just because, I love a party, that lots of people would come visit me at the hospital. (Nearly everyone who came to visit, all came at the same time. Quite fun!)

SO:

• Although the baby was stuck in the birth canal for over a minute (very bad) he suffered NO ill effects.
• Although his shoulder was stuck sideways, the Dr. did not use anything other than her hands to help him come out.
• Although I had a 10+ pound baby, I did not tear or have to have an episiotomy!
• Because I could not get an epidural, I also did not have to have a c-section
• Although recovery is going slow, and I feel like someone punched me in the stomach, Granna has watched the kids all week, and Danny got to stay with me several days.
• Although this world is not a perfect place…GOD is still good!

So, I won the prize for the biggest baby that day.

He is having issue with jaundice, as did 3 of our other kids, but we are being proactive to get it gone. We have found the quickest way is to feed them formula for 24 hours (while pumping to retain my milk supply). We have been to the doctor every day sine he was born, and we go again on Monday. Please pray with me that Sawyer’s body will have kicked out the biliruben stuff, so that he is in perfect health, and we can quit visiting the doctor.

Please also pray with me that I can take in good humor, the constant comments about HOW big he is. He does not look fat proportionally, and he is only 1 inch longer than Abigail was at 7 lbs, 11 oz. So He does not look big, unless you know how big a 7 pound baby is. He also looks much more filled out compared to a 7 pounder. I know it shouldn’t bother me, but all people are saying is how big he is.

My little sister, said he’s beautiful, today. Thanks, Manda.

I am accepting material to use as creative comebacks to “He’s so big”

So far I’ve got:

• “Yeah, we’re getting him a job tomorrow”
• “Well, we did pray he’d be a good size”
• “Oh, you think so?”
• “Yeah, we’re going to start him in pee-wee football next week”
• and Danny’s suggestion “just pretend it’s a compliment, and smile”

I’m “sure” this is just take form a funny perspective, but this is Sawyer being held by his 5 month old cousin, Kadence. OK, he’s big.