Random Thoughts

Hi! L1 here. I just had some random thoughts I wanted to blog. We had VBS (this is really late, it was a month ago:) and it was my first year helping! I had a lot of fun and I got to help in the class I wanted.I did first grade and my riding teeacher and her sister taught.Here is a picture of me and one of the little girls in our class.








We went and stayed with these guys for eight days when dad was in Ireland. Two of their cousins were there for part of the time so we had thirteen kids and three adults. It was really noisy and hectic but SO much fun! We went swimming and bowling and had a movie night (went to bed at 1:56 in the morning!) we had two water fights and much playing of horses outside. And me, P3, and the oldest girl -A2- made a horse game with questions. I did NOT want to leave!
I taught my girl to do this.





It is an excellant stretch for her back, and gives her something to do because she got a sore-naturally-right where my legs -or saddle- rub when I'm riding, so that has to be postponed until it heals. She can go twice as high now but I don't have a picture of that yet. The other day me and P3 stayed home while all the other kids went to Mee-Maw's house and made these dresses.





I made P3's and she made mine, then mom let us use her make-up (it makes us look scary) and we did a photo shoot in our room.





Afterwards mom said, "Wow! You guys are headed for the runway!" I said NO WAY. That is one of the LAST things on my list to do with my life! The top three are:
1. Live with P3 and A2 on a 350 acre horse farm and have a mustang sanctuary and adopt 10-18 kids
2. Be a missionary in Afganastan and adopt some of the homeless children there. (Only I'd have to get married for that :b)
3. Live on a ranch and rescue abused/neglected horses and adopt 4-7 kids
Yeah, so whatever happens, I want to adopt a bunch of kids. But I would like to adopt older kids, because nobody wants older kids, or siblings, so they don't get seperated. Well, that's pretty much it! I'll post again soon!

On the Loose in Dublin

We hit the ground running - literally - as we ran with our luggage to make sure we all go on one bus. Space was not the issue so much as time. But, once settled we were able to enjoy traffic in Ireland's largest city atop a double-decker bus on the wrong side of the street!



We arrived at Abbey Presbyterian Church on Parnell Square in downtown Dublin and got a rundown on the week. Abbey Church is hosting an "Arts Festival." During the early afternoon hours the historic church will be open to public viewing.





In the evenings there will be the Xpresso Cafe, a coffee house setting in the church's basement with art and photography on display and live music. Our job during the day will be to do some advertisement by way of "busking" in some of Dublin's pedestrian-only downtown streets (Grafton and Henry streets). On Thursday some of us will play some more classical selections in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (two doors down from Abbey Church.



This museum boasts Ireland's biggest collection of modern painters including Renoir, Monet, and Degas.

Twirly Skirts and Being Two

The weather has turned hot. My little girls were in need of something cooler. Sew, Mama, Sew blog to the rescue. If you sew ,check out this amazing resource.The girls had received some shirred tops in a hand-me-down bag and fell in love with them. The problem being, there were only two tops and one was really too big for the littles. So with great fear and trepidation, this mama put elastic thread in her bobbin and shirred away. I found myself pleasantly surprised. It worked! The shirring that is. The first top I tried to make for C6 barely went over her head. Hoping it will fit this other girl I know. If you try this tutorial please cut TWO rectangles on the fold. TWO! OK you have been warned.And the twirly skirts??? I adore them and knew the girls would put them to good use.








That is after I convinced C6 that truly this would be fun.She is 2 & a half, quickly approaching three. It is such a hard age. I do not believe in the terrible twos. There is nothing "terrible" about her.(or any two year old) I have complete and utter sympathy for them. They are unable to communicate clearly with those around them. Trapped in their minds are feelings, thoughts , stories and ideas. They desperately want to take part in everything around them. Everything is new, exciting and begging to be touched, tasted and explored. They are told many times a day "no," they aren't big enough or simply left out of what appears to be all the "fun". (I am thinking of C6's fascination of "helping" the older girls clean out the litter box.) I do not think that means we chuck loving discipline and guidance out the window. That does not mean I make excuses for everything she does. It's just my attempt to see the world through her eyes. I find when I do that I have great sympathy for her. I am a thirty-one year old woman and at times, think maybe throwing myself down on the ground and having a good cry would not be such a bad idea. How much harder for someone who has only been living this life for two years?! Praying today to see the world through my children's eyes.

To Introduce Myself

Hello! My name is L1 and my mom asked me to post on her blog about me and horses and stuff. So, here I am! Some of my favorite things to do are: be around horses, be with my friends and family, write, draw, take pictures, and play on the computer.howrse is my favorite website to play on. It is all free (except special stuff) but I advise you to not get an account unless your parents are willing to let you spend large amounts of time on the computer everyday. It is VERY addicting. I have two pets, a cat, Maken, he is VERY sweet but a little on the tubby side. And there is Sugar, she is a very big blessing to have, as she is a horse! OK, here's the story, my riding teacher had to get rid of her horses and she asked if we would like on of them (they said they would give her to us) of course my parents said yes so I have her now. She is a 25y/old QH and she is pretty much bomb-proof and was trained to do pretty much anything. Here is a picture of her and P3 having a tea party:)







My favorite color is... well, I don't really have a favorite color! I like all of them! and my favorite fruit is bannana. (Did you know that nuts are considered fruits? I don't really count them as fruit though!) My best friend is K4 and she lives about 20 min. away from our house (that's really a blessing, I don't know what I'd do if she lived any farther away!) and I get to see her a bunch. Here's a picture of her and one of our kittens when they were younger.






My favorite comic (that's NOT in the newspaper)is Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson. It is about a six-year-old boy with a wild imagination and his tiger, Hobbes. They're really funny, here's part of one, it's one of my favorites.








Well, that's pretty much it! I will post again soon, and thanks for reading my post!

Yup, That's Me! Totally Clueless!

The babe-in-belly my hubbie is pointing to in this photo rides a horse , calls her girlfriend on the phone and fills copious amounts of paper with her very own words.I was totally clueless as a new mom and yet, willing to do anything for that wee babe. I can recall rubbing the baby shampoo into my eyes to test if it was really tear-free. (It's not, definitely milder but not tear-free)There were so many choices-cloth or disposable diapers,shots or no shots, plastic toys or wood toys, could she survive without me while I took a much needed sanity break?!?!?!? Then we added The Boy to the mix and threw in four more kids for good measure. I thought I had a lot of choices before.Humph! Somewhere, in the process of them raising me, the choices changed. They are still hard but very different. Yes, I try to give them all a balanced diet but birthday cake for breakfast killed no one. Toys aren't such an issue with the youngest, I just try to keep her from sniffing the Sharpies too much. I think now about choosing to stop what I am doing and have a conversation or plowing ahead with my agenda. I choose yes to as many messes as I can. I apologize promptly after the meltdown that follows from one too many messes. I pray for the courage,when they are older, to apologize for the wounds I have made. I want to know them and I want them to know me. These are just the random thoughts that ran through my mind this evening, as I sat listening to a small group of couples, on the verge of parenthood. My eyes wandering over swollen bellies, chuckling as one dad's eyes glazed over, listening to a very important discussion of how often a newborn eats. I whispered to myself, "Alot and they want all of you." They do not stop at sweet mama milk. It is a violent,all consuming love. Tonight, I will watch my children sleeping and thank the Lord that He knew what I needed. I will thank Him for the privilege of walking along with this crazy brood of mine. I will ask for wisdom,as there is much I have to learn. I am still clueless.

Children's Book Monday

This zany story of a mother of seven who works very hard to please all her children's taste buds hits very close to home! We all laugh at the unusual things her children take a liking to and the interesting ways mom trys to fulfill there wishes. The illustrations are maybe even more charming than the story. You can take a peek here. The state of their house will be endearing to any book loving family and especially to those who have more than 2.5 kiddos!

Week of Spring :: Tuesday

Week of Spring :: Monday

Playing along with SouleMama this week.

Quietly easing back into this space

Week One-Joining in with a Bang!, originally uploaded by jasmatb.

Head over to Six One Way to view other lovely images from mamas lives.

Just One More Thing

Happy Birthday Baby Erin!!!




Now resuming shuffling.

Until Further Notice . . .

All blogging, shop opening and schemes will be suspended. I have to do a little life reshuffling. Thanks!

888 Challenge

I have no issue fitting books into my life but I do feel like I am often unintentional with what I choose to read. I discovered this nifty challenge over at BloggingMolly. The making of this list, forced me to really look at all the books we own. I came up short in the poetry category. I am taking suggestions!


8 Rereads

1/Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2/Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
3/Anne of Green Gables by L.M.Montgomery
4/Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
5/To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6/A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
7/Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
8/When Life & Beliefs Collide by Carolyn Custis James

8 Missionary Life

1/Once Bitten by Anne J Townsend
2/Letters Never Sent by Ruth Van Reken
3/Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper
4/Raising Resilient MKS
5/A Chance to Die by E.Elliot
6/ No Graven Image by E.Elliot
7/Ministries of Mercy by Timothy Keller
8/In the Face of Surrender by Richard Wurmbrand

8 Autobiography

1/Reading Lolita in Tehran
2/ Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson
3/Traveling Mercies:Some Thoughts On Faith by Anne Lamott
4/An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
5/The Letters of J.R.R.Tolkien
6/This is My God:The Jewish Way of Life by Herman Wouk
7/Escape by Caolyn Jessop
8/Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat

8 Classics

1/Hitty the 1st Hundred Years
2/Pilgrim's Progress
3/Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
4/ Giants in the Earth by Rolvaag
5/Rebbecca by Daphne du Maurier
6/Anna & the King of Siam
7/Kim by Rudyard Kipling
8/Around the World in Eighty Days by Jule Verne

8 Poetry

1/The Father by Sharon Olds
2/Polishing the Petoskey Stone by Luci Shaw
3/George Herbert
4/Annie Dillard
5/The Weather of the Heart by Madeline L'Engle
6/
7/
8/

8 Personal Growth

1/Irresistible Revolution
2/Heaven by Randy Alcorn
3/Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
4/Susanna by Arnold Dallimore
5/Pursuit of God by A.W.Tozer
6/Evangelism Explosion by Kennedy
7/All God's Children & Blue Suede Shoes by Myers
8/Heirs of the Covenant by Susan Hunt

8 Books Girls in My Jr.High Sunday School Class are Reading

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8 Madeline L'Engle

1/A Circle of Quiet
2/The Summer of the Great Grandmother
3/The Irrational Season
4/Two-Part Invention
5/Bright Evening Star
6/The Weather of the Heart
7/The Small Rain
8/A Severed Wasp

Randomness and a Link for Lisa

~Yesterday,the kids and I ordered THE BIKE. H4 was disappointed when she realized she wouldn't get to see the man's face when he received his gift! We will be turning our thoughts locally this time around. There are some very amazing places around town. Please, take a moment and see if maybe there is something you could do.
~The Barney Rubble camera died. Pictures around here will be sparse for awhile. I have been praying(coveting, scheming, whining) for one of these babies.
~I have added one more goal for the year. I 'll post the list tomorrow.
~ This is an interesting story. I liked it.Hey, computer guy (you know which one you are) is that really true what they say about computers???

One More Goal

I do have one more teeny, tiny goal I really want to get off the ground this year. I (with guest appearances from my mom) will be opening a small shop in the huge world of online sales. We deeply desire to continue with our Conspiracy Plan . The sales from my humble shop will go towards our efforts on that front. The picture below is part of my paper layout for a banner that will be in the shop on January 14th.



I will be giving you glimpses of what is to come. There will be aprons and art smocks of course but also a few new things. I am very excited about these banners. They have been floating around in my head for years. I am enjoying bringing them to life.

A Brief Comment on Comments

Blogger does not show me your email addresses. I have tried very hard to be faithful in acquiring every one's email and replying BUT . . . I am not very good at it. I LOVE your comments though and being me, I always have a comment for your comment. I have decided to reply within the comments section. If you would like a personal reply to a question just shoot me a plain ole' email. It seems so sad to even admit I can't personally keep track of the 5 or so people who comment here. What will happen if I become famous and reach 50 or 60 comments?!?!? Te-he. Seriously, I love your comments. They are a brief moment of contact with the outside world of adults.Hey, remember, I stay at home with six kids!!!

BOOKS READ 2007

Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson
The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Mary Modern by Camille DeAngelis
Total Abandon by Gary Witherall
Christ the Lord Out of Egypt by Anne Rice
The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden
The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
Who loves you like this by Edith Bruck
Dominion by Randy Alcorn
Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
Acorna: The Unicorn Girl by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball
Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith
The Kite Runner by Haled Hosseini
When the Darkness Will Not Lift by John Piper
The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Empire by Orson Scott Card
Next by Michael Crichton
Ask Supernanny by Jo Frost
The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity by Sally Clarkson
Enriching the Brain:How to Maximize EVERY Learner's Potential by Eric Jensen
Dangerous Journey by Oliver Hunkin
Alphabet Dreams by Susan Fletcher
A Violent Grace by Michael Card
Till We Have Faces by C.S.Lewis
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury
A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue by Wendy Shalit

A New Year

We welcomed the New Year with an evening spent in the company of close friends. There was warm soup, coffee, a fire and s'mores. A total of 18 children were in attendance (divided not so evenly between four sets of parents)!!! Everyone (in our clan) made it 'til midnight. That was a big first. The next day we bummed around and had some more s'mores. That's the upside of having forgotten to bring our share on New Year's Eve!



We discussed New Year's resolutions. The Boy described them as "things you DON'T do!" Te-he! How true that often ends up being. Most of the gang did not have too many plans laid out,yet. L1 continues in her quest to accumulate a large sum of money to purchase a horse. The Boy and P3 are going to try for reading the whole Bible. The Boy tried this past year and almost made it but not quite! My sweet man's goal is to be a man worthy of my kindness and affection. (He is for real! The guy breaks my heart.)



I have a few, small personal goals. I want to learn to knit socks. I found someone in real-life who knits! She is going to help me make sense of using four needles to knit. I think it looks terribly scary. I have also been tweaking our homeschooling adventure. I want to aim for reading out loud at least two hours a day. That may be my most ambitious endeavour this year! We don't want our Advent Conspiracy to end and have decided to continue it year round. The beginning of anything, whether a pristine blank journal, a box of newly sharpened pencils or the smell of an unread book, is exciting. I am looking forward to this new year and the adventures that lie in wait.