We just started exchanging postcards with other homeschoolers!  I received emails from people who will be sending us postcards from New Mexico, Texas (this one might be from NASA), South Carolina (She is going to try to send one from NY too), Georgia, North Carolina, Balboa Spain, Japan, and Korea!  We have also emailed someone in France and are hoping to get one of the Eiffel Tower!

This is very exciting for the kids, as they will get mail, a picture of different places as well as a stamp!  If anyone wants to exchange from where you live, we would be happy to send you a postcard of Alaska.  We don't mind getting duplicates from states either, as the likelyhood of getting the same postcard is pretty slim.  We are especially hoping for cards of an historical nature, or of something special about each area, for example, a famous landmark, waterfall, mountain, etc.  I will be trying to send pictures of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, unless something else is requested.

I am also going to start having dh pick up postcards as he travels, so we should expand our collection pretty quickly at the rate he has been going places!   Too bad I didn't think of this when he went to Boston last month!

Anyway, just email me if you would like to do an exchange with us!  We can also probably get Seattle postcards pretty easily, as dh is there just about every month for business.

This morning, dh and I were lazing around in bed, and the kids were getting breakfast.  I made these little cakes for A's birthday yesterday, and there were a few left over, so they asked dh if they could each have one for breakfast.  He said sure.  Well, the cakes I made have a fudge sauce in the middle, so in order to make it a “lava” cake, there are directions for reheating them in the microwave.  Well, my oldest didn't read the directions, but just decided that two minutes would be good.  Next thing I hear is a bunch of commotion, and then, “Get Micah out of the smoke!”

Dh and  I run out there to find the whole main room of our house engulfed in smoke, and smoke pouring out of the microwave!  Well, almost two hours later, and all of the windows and the door open, and the fan going, it still has a lingering smell of smoke, especially in the kitchen.  YUCK!!  I think my oldest learned his lesson though, at least I HOPE so!  I have candles burning too, but it is really chilly outside today, so I have closed up most of the windows.

One adventure after another….

I read this here, and wanted to have it in my blog for reference, so as not to lose it.  (I hope this is ok.  Please someone tell me if it isn't.  I don't know how to do quotes, or I would do it that way.)  It really spoke to my heart, and I want to share it with my homeschooling friends, as well as with my son who still struggles with fear on some nights.  I wish I had read it this afternoon so this evening when he was struggling I would have had it to refer to, but I am resting in the fact that the Father had other plans.

I hope you get as much out of it as I did.  Thank you Jeannie for writing this!

Fear vs. Faith by Jeannie Fulbright

My dear husband informed me that being able to multi-task is very much a womanly art.  He just can't seem to do it, let alone understand how I can do it!  I have to say that multi-tasking comes in very handy when you have five small children and are pregnant with #6, especially when four of those are boys, the youngest of whom needs constant supervision!

My abilities came in very handy last night, as I lounged in my glider rocker, which has been used to rock every one of my children, putting yet another sleepy baby to bed for the night.  I have done a lot of my best thinking in that rocker…as well as my best praying.

Last night I was concerned about one of my older boys.  We had watched a movie a few weekends ago and he has been having trouble with tummy aches, and sleeping ever since.  There was one scene in it that had burrowed deep into his mind, and was causing him such nervousness that we was feeling sick and having nightmares.

It had gotten so bad that during the evening last night before bedtime, he came up to me with tears in his eyes, worried and scared.  Each night, my husband and I would pray with him, review scriptures, give him tummy medicine, etc. but every night, it was back.  He thought he needed to see a doctor.  My poor little man.

As I sat rocking my youngest last night, I poured out my mommy heart to The God Who Knows All Things.  I pleaded with Him to clear my dear son's mind of these issues, to give him peace and comfort, to cause him to feel love and kindness.

This morning, as he sat doing his schoolwork, he looked up at me, smiled, and said, “Mom!  It's not bothering me anymore!  I thought last night would be the same: I would get a tummy ache, and I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I fell right to sleep!”

Praise God that He hears our cries, and answers them!!!

Psalm 5:1-4

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.  Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.  My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.  For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.

Now if I can just do that for my own worries and fears….back to the rocker for naptime!

I finally finished the entryway!  I didn't even want to really start on the livingroom, as the cleanliness of the livingroom is really dependent on the entryway.  The livingroom is usually kept picked up, except for the occasional forts, toys, and mounds of laundry needing folding.  So, I really focused on the entryway.

The entryway is where everything gets piled up that needs to go out to the storage container, needs to go to other people, and needs to be gotten rid of, as well as house all of the gear needed for 7 people.  During the winter, it is really crowded!  The kids each have their own basket for hats, gloves, scarves, etc, and the snowpants go in the bench.  The other “clutter I run into in the winter is everyone having multiple coats.  They need one for when it is really cold (below 0!), as well as a lighter coat for when it is above 0, because the parkas get too hot.  So, the first thing I did was start washing all of the coats and snowpants.  I put all (except a set for the two youngest) of the hats, gloves, and scarves into a tote, and after the parkas were dry, I put those into the same tote.  It is marked winter gear so it will be easy to find next winter.  I rinsed off the snowboots and took them out to their designated tote out in the storage container, pulled out the shoe rack (which my 4yodd wiped down), vacuumed and mopped behind and under it, cleaned off the coat rack shelf (boy was it dusty!), took the storage things out, took the stuff to go to other people out the the tote in the van, washed the dog kennel bedding and cover, and even gave the dog a bath!

After!  Isn't it beautiful with the sun streaming in?!?

It has made such a magnificent difference!  When dh got home from being in town for two days he said, “WOW!  It looks really nice in here!”  My MIL came over for a little while and couldn't belive the difference!  Whee!  I really want to keep it this way.  So far, the van is still clean (it could probably use a vacuuming again though) and the porch is still clear.  The kids have a few sticks lying around, and the dog got into some insulation from under the house, but otherwise, things are staying clean!  I think I will finish up the livingroom today, and then maybe I will start on the kitchen….Actually, I think the kitchen will wait, as I have plenty I want to do to get ready for Resurrection Day.

Well, I am not getting things done as quickly as I would like.  Yesterday, I spent the afternoon taking the kids to a friends house for a play date.  It was nice and relaxing, and the kids did a little bunny craft that one of the older homeschoolers had prepared for them.  I did get some laundry folded and the dishes are done, since my boys help out with the laundry and dishes, but I didn't make much headway on the entryway.  It is about halfway done.  Today, I am going to take some things out to our storage container, and finish washing the snowpants (as I sit here and type this, it is snowing again…ugh!!!) so I can finish putting the winter gear away.

I can't believe that it is already the middle of April, and it is still snowing every couple of day!  It had all winter to do this!  Snow, snow, go away, come again, NEXT WINTER!!

Feeling a little bogged down….we are supposed to be starting the kitchen and dining room the rest of the week, and the “dining room” is also the schoolroom/mommy's office, so it is just depressing to even think about.  I plan to just work on getting things taken off of the top of the fridge and hutch, and then maybe mop the floor.

I have a good incentive to get rid of things though.  There is a lady in our community who doesn't have any insurance and they have discovered that she has cancer, or a bunch of tumors, or something like that.  Anyway, the community is having a garage sale/auction in her benefit the weekend after Easter, so I am going to try to donate a bunch of stuff for the garage sale.  I already have some puzzles, baby toys, and a few clothes to donate.  I really want to go through the boys room and donate some more toys.  I CAN'T STAND toys anymore!

We will be moving in the next two months or so, so I really want everything to be nice and simple to move.  I am SO tired of clutter…..

Feeling grumpy…….

Before and after pictures of the front porch, door, and front of the house…it looks kind of bare, but it is clean!  Once May rolls around, I can put my hanging baskets out, and it will perk it up quite a bit.  I didn't buy a new doormat, as I just bought one last year, so I just washed it out in the tub, and it *LOOKS* brandnew!  Now, if I can just keep the kids from leaving toys, sticks, and rocks all over….

I couldn't help myself, and put some silk flowers out in the corner of the porch.  Oh, and my porch is brand new to me this summer!  My brother built it for me last fall, so I am *SO* looking forward to enjoying it this summer!


Ain't it purty?!  The table was new too.  I bought a set for my MIL for Mother's Day last year, and it turned out there were two in each package!  So, two for her, two for me!  I didn't have a place to put them last year, as I just had steps, so I had my older two ds's build them for me today!

I got the van *SO* clean yesterday, that when I got home from town today (I had forgotten that the kids had eye appts. today!), I made sure to clean it all out again, instead of putting it off!  Then, I just couldn’t stop, and started on the front porch!  Just because snow and water cover the yard, doesn’t mean I can’t tackle PART of the yard!  I still had Christmas lights and wreaths on there, and now that it isn’t freezing every night, the wreaths had started turning orange…yuck.  It looks so much cleaner now, but I won’t take the after picture until I can wash it down and try to add some color somehow.  I am going to try to find some silk flowers to spruce it up until May when I can put out real ones….

Well, I am off to fold laundry and pick up before dh gets home from town.  I can't wait to see his face when he sees the van tomorrow!

Oh, and maybe tomorrow I will post a picture of “The Lake” out front.  The ground must be thawing though, because it was down quite a bit from when we left this morning.  Still fun for the kids to play in though!

Before…..keep in mind that this was after a day in town.  I usually try to at least clean out the trash the next day….

 and that is a toy gun that my son set in there while I was snapping pictures….I didn't notice it until I had the pictures on my computer!

Scroll down for the AFTER pictures!

AFTER!!!!  Yea!  Notice the snow out the window?


Oh, and in the tote are pillows, blankets, first aid kit, things that go to other people, and extra gloves for everyone.  The blankets and gloves will come out when I put away all of the winter gear.  They are for emergency use in the winter.  I haven't had to use them yet, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared!