Just Think Of The Next Thing

Life has been CRAZY BUSY . . . 

but we are all having FUN.

My blog has been pretty quiet . . .

but only because Life has NOT been quiet.

Hosanna Added a Twist to Twister

Hosanna's 16th Birthday Party

What could these girls possibly be doing?

Yes.  They are making a new mat for our old Twister Game?

(How many of you grew up playing Twister?)

I think they look a tad bit apprehensive.  Don't you?

"Let's get started, Girls."

"Lookin' Good!"

Ben had the spinner and was calling out the required moves.

I think he added "Elbow" to the game.

Why Do I Do What I Do?

Musings of a Mentor Mom . . .

"Why Do I Do What I Do?" 

first published in the "Hearts At Home"

magazine in the February 2002 edition,

and again in the "T.E.A.C.H." magazine

in the Summer 2004 edition.

I was raised in a family where education was the most important thing in life.  I come from a long line of educators (teachers, professors, principals, and a school superintendent).  I did very well in school and my family had great expectations for what I would become.  However, I discovered shortly after high school that the Lord had different expectations.  

I dropped out of college and got married at age 20.  Soon, the babies started arriving in rapid succession.  By the age of 27 I had five babies under five years old. My family couldn't understand what had happened to me; they saw me as a failure.  I was asked, "When will you finish your education?"  "What are you going to do with your life?"  "Are you really happy?"  None of them could understand why I would choose to be "just a mom".

When I face difficult situations, I know I can always find encouragement in God's Word.  So when I asked myself, "Why do I do what I do?" the Lord led me to Paul's greeting to the Thessalonians . . .


"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."  1 Thessalonians 1:3.

Is your work produced by faith?  Do you know that the job you are doing is exactly the job God has called you to?  I have never doubted my calling to be a full-time mom of a large family.  When I was in elementary school, I remember reading magazine articles about extra-large families and thinking, "That's what I want."  I always wondered what it would be like to be "just a mom" (which was not something I had any examples of in my extended family).

When Jim and I married we told everyone we wanted six children; they all told us we would change our minds.  Now, we laugh . . . we changed our minds, we didn't stop at only six.

However, having a large family wasn't as easy as we thought it would be.  After a year of marriage, we were told I had severe endometriosis and I needed to have a complete hysterectomy.  The doctor agreed not to do surgery immediately, yet he told us we only had a two percent chance of ever having children.  I boldly told all of our friends that, "God doesn't care about percentages."  Seven healthy children later, I was told a hysterectomy was now imperative.  I calmly went into surgery trusting this was God's will for my life.  What a joyful surprise it was when we discovered the Lord had completely healed me and the surgeon just sewed me back up after taking a peek inside.  We knew God obviously wasn't ready to shut that door, and waited expectantly to see what His plan was.  

Now that we have ten beautiful blessings, we often get asked, "How big is a quiver?"  Not knowing what the Lord's ultimate plan is for our family, I just laugh and say, "I hear they are cheaper by the dozen."

Is your labor prompted by love?  Are you working an outside job in order to earn some type of reward, or are you working at home because you love your children so very much you can't imagine a more glamorous job?  No, motherhood is not easy; but I love each of my children so very much I cannot imagine life without them.

On the days when homeschooling isn't going well and I'm ready to give up on reading, writing, and arithmetic, all I need to do is send them all outside to play.  I love to sit at the kitchen window, just watching them.  It makes my daily sacrifices all worthwhile when I see the loving relationships that are developing between them.  What a joy it is to watch my seventeen-year-old son digging tunnels in the pile of wood shavings with my 5-year-old daughter; to see my 12-year-old daughter taking her one-year-old brother for another walk to see the neighbor's cows; and to see my eight and eleven-year-old sons completely lost in a game of make-believe with homemade bows and arrows.  Yes, love makes it all worthwhile.

Is your endurance inspired by hope in Christ?  Are you continually in survival mode, or are you running this race with endurance?  Do you have the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ that enable you to stick with this job for the long haul?  If not, I pray you will ask the Lord to show you the blessed hope only He can give.

People talk about trying to make it through the day.  Well, many days, when I had 5 little ones under 5 years old, it was too overwhelming to think about making it through the day; I had to consciously break my day down into smaller segments:  "Can I make it until lunch?  Until nap time?  How can we survive until Daddy gets home?  I think I can make it until bedtime."  And, those thoughts were okay.  They helped me to focus on my priorities and not get overwhelmed.

If you are overwhelmed about a situation, can you find ways to break it down into smaller segments?  I pray you will ask the Lord to help you.  When our hope is placed in Jesus Christ, He gives us the strength and endurance to accomplish all He asks us to do.

Now that we have ten children, my family has stopped asking so many questions.  They still don't understand why I do what I do and they still see education as the highest priority, but I know God has a different set of priorities for my life.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love."  (1 Corinthians 13:13)

* * * * * * * * * *

I hope you were encouraged by this article that I wrote back in 2002.  Just so you know . . . I found out that children aren't "cheaper by the dozen".   (smile)

Some Serious Scrapbooking

I went on a Scrapbooking Retreat last weekend, and broke my All Time Record for Most Pages Completed.  Oh. My. Yes.

A BIG Job Possibility for Papa

Jim has been totally BLESSED the past 6 weeks or so to work for a local Construction Company.  He started with a job at the local university, and then moved on to a State Park, and is now working at a small airport.  Each of these jobs have been Government Contracts, which means the hourly wage is exceptionally good (more than double what he was making for the painting contractor).  Thank You, Jesus!!!

Musings of a Mentor Mom

^"3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not 

to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 

⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,

 ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be 

subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

Titus 2:3-5

I am going to start a new series of posts . . .  Musings of a Mentor Mom . . .  hoping to post weekly.

As most of you know, I am passionate about being a Mentor (or "Big Sis") to Young Moms (and not-so-young moms).  I do all I can to support . . . encourage . . . and just. plain. love, others that have chosen to walk The Mommy Journey.

Like it or not (smile), I am now an "older woman".  I so desire to "teach what is good".  I want my life to be an example of all that God can do when we surrender to His plan for our lives.  I so want to urge younger women "to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands".

How Fast Is Your Fastball?

We went to The Fair a week ago.

We went with a VERY small budget.

We don't even usually stop and look at such booths.

However . . .

I was at the fair with 5 VERY competitive men and boys.

Very Competitive!

And, it wasn't even about competing against one another.

Nope.

Why then was this booth so important?!?!

Because . . . 

. . . they were Keeping Track.

. . . you could Break The Record.

And . . . my "boys" are ALL about Breaking Records.

Oh. My. Yes.

Facing Temptations

Hard night tonight.

Came home from my scrapbooking retreat at 6:00.
(after being gone since Friday afternoon)

Exhausted.
(after sharing bedroom with crazy loud snorer the first night,
and staying up too late both nights)

Hungry.
(after being careful not to overeat all weekend,
but probably under-eating instead)

Walked in to the house to discover a very frustrating situation.
(admittedly didn't handle it as I could have, and would have 
handled it better had I not been extremely tired and hungry)

Sat on my bed for awhile, trying to calm down
but at the same time "plotting" what to do.  (smile)

Budget Breakfasts

Since we've talked a bit about our budget this week . . . and my friend Sarah asked for my Baked Oatmeal recipe . . . I thought I'd write a little post about a way to save BIG money at the grocery store.

Breakfasts is the #1 meal that we save a LOT of money on, compared to most families.  And, not only are our Breakfasts a lot cheaper . . . they are also much healthier, too.

Did You Hear Me . . .

. . . Doin' the HAPPY DANCE this Morning?

Takin' Care of Mama Update:

12 Weeks

30.8 Total Pounds Lost

(gone forever . . . never to return)

4.4 Pounds Lost This Week

(after a 2 week plateau . . . 

now sticking to 1000-1100 Cal. Per Day)

28.25 Total Inches Lost

(in 10 measurements)

Yes!

Mama is HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY today.

Thank YOU for being such AWESOME Cheerleaders!!!

I seriously couldn't do it without the prayers and encouragement from friends.

Chocolate, Chocolate Everywhere!

Hosanna's Birthday Party is tonight.

Two months ago, I signed up for (and paid for)

an out-of-town with a friend

Scrapbooking Retreat for this weekend.

Because of a myriad of scheduling conflicts,

tonight is the best night for Hosanna to have

an overnight party with a group of friends.

So . . . Mama has to miss it. 

Seriously . . . makes Mama soooo. . . sad.

I love serving my kids and their friends.

I love welcoming them into our home.

I love taking pictures at fun events.

(and she has some CRAZY "games" planned)

I love cooking and baking for my kids parties.

But . . . this time . . . Mama is going to be gone.

Therefore . . . 

I spent 5 hours in the kitchen last night . . .

trying out 3 brand new recipes.

Sweet 16

Hosanna and I took a little "trip" last weekend . . .

just 50 miles away . . .

for only 24 hours . . .

but it was FUN!

All of these pictures were taken throughout the past year.

6 Months Old . . . and Oh. So. Cute.

Just a few more pics from our time with Noah this past weekend.

What's For Breakfast?

When Sarah's Kids spent a few days with us this summer, her son Isaac went home talking about the things that we ate.  (Isn't that the focus of so many little boys?)

Isaac has been asking his mom to get the recipe for Baked Oatmeal, so I thought I would pull up an old post from 2008 and share it with you all, too.

Noah's First Trip To The Fair

Papa took his first weekend off in 2 months

and we headed to Gregg & Kayla's

on Saturday afternoon.

How to have FUN on a Budget

I wrote a post last week about "My Calendar is FULL", and some of you were understandably concerned about the financial side of things.  It may have appeared that if we were going to be having so much FUN over the course of the next month, that we were therefore intending to spend a lot of MONEY in order to do all that is on our calendar.

I Seriously Did A Double Take

When I uploaded my weekend pictures onto my computer tonight,

I seriously had to do a double take.

Is that me?

She's So Cute

Hosanna took her own, "First Day of School" photos,

Do You Want The Lord's Blessings?

Psalm 127:3-5  Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit 

of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the 

children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! 

Clearly . . . 

from this verse and MANY others . . .

Children Are A Blessing.

Therefore . . .

Children = Blessing

So, what if we take the word "Children"

out of the following oft heard statements,

and replace it with the word "Blessing"?

Hosanna & Sarah's "New" Bedroom

Last September, for Hosanna's Birthday, we began the process of "New Decor" for her bedroom.

She picked out a new comforter, and we bought new curtains for the window and the closet.

We also bought coordinating comforters for Sarah & Rachel.

However . . . we never quite finished the project.

Papa never got the painting done,

as we moved on to redecorating most of the rest of the house,

without ever getting back to repainting the kids' bedrooms.

Little Gifts

Jim and I each received a little gift this week.

No.

It wasn't our birthdays . . . or any holiday.

No.

It wasn't wrapped in gold paper . . . or any paper.

No.

It wasn't from a friend . . . or from anyone we even knew.

What was My Gift?

Dressing It Up With Scarves

Hosanna and I LOVE to wear scarves . . .

Fall . . . Winter . . . Spring . . .

all find us with colorful scarves wrapped around our necks.

Robbed At Gunpoint

Please PRAY for a dear friend of mine and their family.  Amy and her family are missionaries in Guatemala, and they were robbed at gunpoint yesterday, after leaving the bank.


"Dear Lord,

Thank you for holding Todd & Amy and the children in Your hands.  Thank you for protecting them from harm.  I pray that You would bring peace to their hearts . . . that you would help Todd to not feeling guilty for being unable to protect his family (and their finances).  Give comfort to the children, and release their minds from the images that are replaying over and over.  I pray that you would remove any fear from each of them, as they venture back into the city to do Your work.  I also pray that you would provide them a fence and gate for their new ministry, so that they may keep all of the children safe in their new home.

We pray for the gunmen, that you would speak to their hearts (through the Bible that they received when they stole Amy's purse).  That you would help them to know Your love and peace, and release them from this lifestyle of harm that they are bringing to others.

Thank you, Lord, for the work that You are doing in and through Todd & Amy and their children."



Go HERE to read their full story . . .

My Calendar is FULL . . .

. . . and I am EXCITED for Everything on it.

In the next month, I get to do ALL of these things:

2 Days Away  *  with Hosanna at a Hotel (to celebrate her 16th Birthday)

2 Days Away  *  with Jim & the Kids at Gregg & Kayla's (to go to The Fair)

3 Days Away  *  with a Friend to Scrapbook (out-of-town)

3 Days Away  *  with Sarah, Josiah, & Elijah and a Blog Friend & Her Kids (at The Beach)

2 Days Away  *  with my Church Friends to Scrapbook (at our New Church)

8 Days Away  *  with my Sweet Husband (to Sunshine & Beaches far away)

Seriously?!?!  

20 of the next 31 days will be FILLED with FAMILY and FRIENDS and FUN, FUN, FUN !!!

The Sacrifice of Motherhood

I had the most interesting/awkward conversation yesterday.

I met a woman at Women's Bible Study and she asked about my family.

After telling her of our 12 children and homeschooling for 22 years,

she said a few things about how much she respects me, or looks up to me

(or something like that, because her next statement made 
me forget everything else that she had just said).

"You must have sacrificed so much in order to homeschool your children."

Uuummmmm . . .

I didn't know how to respond.

The thing is . . .

I have never really seen my life as a horrible sacrifice.

(and this woman definitely seemed to pity me 
for the sacrifices that I'd had to make).

I have been a MOM for 28 years.

I have been BLESSED with the GIFT of a DOZEN children.

I am HONORED that the LORD would entrust HIS children to me.

I have been overly BLESSED to be able to TEACH my children at HOME.

Seriously?

Sacrifice?

A Profusion of Prolific Pictures, Portraits, and Projects

 2012:
The Summer of Family Photographs,
Fancy Frames, and File Folders

In June, I spent an evening working on my Refrigerator Picture Project.

The following week, I spent a day or two completing our  Family Portrait Wall . . .

. . . and my new Grand-baby Collage Frame.

A week or two later, Hosanna and I tackled our BIG Portrait Project . . .

. . . with my new File Folder For Photographs.

In July . . . I made Rachel's Family Album.

Two weeks later . . . I made Gregg & Kayla's Wedding Album.

What I forgot to tell you about, though, was all of the 

Family Collage Frames

that I put together this summer.

Aren't these fun pictures . . . from Benjamin's Photography at the beach?

While we haven't done all of the Portrait Studio Sessions with the younger kids,

like we did for many years with the older bunch,

we have done a lot of informal Photo Shoots,

which has been a lot of fun.

Ben did this photo shoot with the kids.

After putting together the Family Portrait Wall in June,

which covers the first 20 years of Big D. Family Life,

Sarah & Rachel asked where all of the pictures of them are.

(pictures of Josiah and Elijah were clearly lacking, as well)

I made sure to complete all of these Family Collage Frames

before Rachel moved to the Residential Care Facility in July,

so that she would know her pictures would be covering our hallway walls.

I just love this Photo Shoot done by Kymberly Janelle.

These are the outfits that the kids wore for 

Jeremiah & Ashleigh's Wedding

in December 2010.

Ben put together this frame for me as a gift for my birthday.

Hosanna did a photo shoot for Ben's Senior Pictures.

This August 2009 Family Photo Shoot was the last time the whole family was together.  
(sad mama)

It was a really FUN shoot, done by a photographer friend of ours, Mark French.

Here is one of the walls with our new Family Collage Frames.

And, at the end of the main hallway, I put this BIG

collage frame with pics of ALL of my kids.

Oh. How. I. Love. this frame!

Oh. How. I. Love. every single one of these kids!

Oh. How. I. Miss all of our Big Kids!

(The order of the photos isn't exactly in order of age,

due to the direction of the pics I wanted to use . . .

but it's pretty close to being in order.)

Last, but not least, is this Cute Little Frame

that now hangs in our Dining Room.

"Family . . . 

all because two people fell in love . . ."

Yes.

This was definitely the . . .

Summer of the Picture Projects.

When I think back over the summer,
I sometimes think, "What did we do all summer?"
But, I guess this answers some of that question.

Fall has arrived, and we are so enjoying having our walls
covered with Fun Family Photos, again.

(For 3 long years we have had blank walls 
throughout our house,
as the pictures had been taken down in 2009 
when we thought we were selling our house . . .
and it was on the market for a year and a half.)


Adopted Big Kid Kati lives in TX.
When she came home to visit a a couple
of weeks ago, she immediately said,
"Yea!  There are pictures on the walls again!"

We all agree.

Stay Tuned, though, as I still have a couple more Picture Projects to complete this fall.

Lesson Plans

Since I know that many of you also educate your children at home,
I thought I would share what curriculums we are using this year:

I Survived . . .

Yes.

I survived 4 hours in the kitchen . . .

making Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls . . .

without taking one. single. bite.

Woo Hoo!

I wasn't sure I could to it.

Can I Do It?

I am home alone tonight . . .

well, not exactly alone . . .

I have a few of my "friends" with me:

Butter 

(and LOTS of it)

Sugar 

(oh. my. yes.)

Powdered Sugar 

(using 8 cups of this powdery 

white goodness tonight)

Pecans 

(my favorite)

Walnuts

(so good)

Cinnamon 

(don't y'all buy your spices in 4# jars?)

Flour

(not so tempting, but definitely necessary)

Yep.

I am making Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls tonight . . .

and I really need NOT to nibble while I bake.
(nor eat one tomorrow morning at Women's Bible Study)

Have you ever made them?

The are the BEST Cinnamon Rolls EVER.

Yes. They. Are.

Oh. So. Excited.

No Big News here . . .

no new job possibilities . . .

no lottery winnings (smile) . . .

no big family relationship breakthroughs . . .

but I just have to tell you . . .

I am REALLY excited that . . .

Tomorrow is the First Day of School at Our House!

I know a lot of moms get excited for the First Day of School.

They are excited that summer vacation is over,

and their kids get to go back to school.

They are excited for more "Mama Time".

They are excited about the things their children will learn.

They are excited about all of the extracurricular activities to sign up for.

They are excited about the friends their children will make.

And . . .

that's all good.

For me, though . . .

I am excited to start our . . . 

22nd Year of Homeschooling!

Woo Hoo!

We Are Excited About Our Fall Schedule

While the weather is still beautiful, so we are kind of pretending that it is still Summer Vacation (with lots of outside family activities), we have jumped right in to a lot of Fun Fall Extracurricular Activities.

Last year, the kids were involved in a 2 day per week Homeschool Program (taking Drama, Science, Music, and all types of classes).  They enjoyed it, but didn't really make any "outside of school" friends (which was one of the main reasons we signed up for the program); because the program was in a nearby town rather than our own community.  I enjoyed my quiet time at the local Coffee Shop while they were in classes; but I really didn't like the early morning rush twice a week (nor the cost of gas), and didn't like the lost time that we could have spent on the curriculums we have purchased for the kids.

This year, since we are so very excited about our New Church, we are going to Stay Home for all of our Homeschooling (which makes Mama very happy); but we are very excited to plug in to more Church and Community Activities.

Here is how our Fall Schedule is shaping up:

Rejoicing!

We are THANKING GOD today . . .

. . . that Lindsey has a Diagnosis that can now be treated.

. . . that Papa was hired today for 2 Independent Painting Jobs.

. . . that Papa is giving a bid today for a BIG Independent Painting Job.

. . . that Papa keeps being given more work with an Excellent Construction Company.

(He works for them from 7-3 and then goes off to do his Independent jobs.)

. . . that the Lord has BLESSED us with an amazing opportunity to get away 

for a few days next month, to celebrate our 30th Anniversary,

(which was last month).  So excited!  So crazy how God has provided it!

. . . for giving us Strength to withstand the gale force winds which try to knock us down.

. . . for giving us such a Deep Abiding Love for each other, and the capacity to Forgive.

. . . for giving us a New Church and New Friends and New Ministries to be involved in.

. . .  for Big Kids . . . and Young Ones . . . and the BLESSING of Grandchildren.

. . . for Health, and the ability and strength to lose the weight I need to lose.

. . . for Homeschooling, and the opportunity to teach and train 

and build relationships with my children.

Yes.

In the midst of all of the Hard . . . the Ugly . . . the Pain . . . and the Brokenness . . .

we are 

Oh. So. Thankful.

and

We. Do. Rejoice.

Malaria!

Lindsey phoned from Australia at 2:00 am.

I missed the call, but got up and found my phone and texted her.

We talked and prayed from 2:30 - 3:00 am.

I prayed some more.

Lindsey Needs Our Prayers!

Middle of the night phone calls are usually 

not. too. fun.

I crawled into bed at 1:00 am,

only to be awoken by the phone at 2:00 am.

I missed the call, 

but pulled myself out of bed,

and headed down the hall to find my cell phone.

"Missed Call" from Australia.

I knew it couldn't be good.

Lindsey's fever is higher than it's ever been;

I can hear the fear in her voice.

Fear of the unknown.

Fear of the fever.

Fear of the medical costs.

She has been sick for over a week;

she's been to the doctor 3 times;

she's gone for 2 sets of blood tests.

She may have Malaria.

She may have Dengue Fever.

She may have something else.

God is Good . . .

. . . All the Time.

Yesterday . . .

all bank accounts hit the . . . 

Big. Fat. Zero.

due to the fact that we had a Paycheck . . . 

"Lost. In. The. Mail."

Family Photo Fail

Did you ever come up with a 

Family Picture Idea,

that you thought was "Great" . . .

but the rest of the family wasn't quite so sure?

I was so excited to make this big pyramid;

but it crumbled before the top row could get in position.

(The facial expressions on the bottom row just might be a bit exaggerated.)

August 2009

"Those Were The Days . . . "

(Sadly, we haven't had the whole family together since this day . . . 3 long years ago . . .

and I believe it had been at least 3 years before that, since we'd all been together.)

We sure miss our Big Kids.

Tonight's Mantra

"There will still be Papa Murphy's Pizza next year."

"There will still be Papa Murphy's Pizza

when I reach my weight loss goals."

"There will still be Papa Murphy's Pizza next year."

"There will still be Papa Murphy's Pizza

when I reach my weight loss goals."

"There will still be Papa Murphy's Pizza . . . . . . . . ."

. . . as my kids eat their Papa Murphy's Pizza

and Cheesy Bread Sticks.

After losing 6.4 pounds in the past 8 days,
I'm not about to sabotage it just for a piece of pizza
and a cheesy bread stick.   (smile)



* * * update * * *


After saying, "No" to one of my favorite meals . . .

and eating a Taco Salad instead . . .
and keeping my calories under 1000 for the day . . .
I still gained a 1/2 pound.  So sad.