The Notable Blogger

Archive for the ‘Family Life’ Category

It is with eager anticipation that we plant our garden each year, holding out hope that, despite the rock hard caliche under our depleted soil, despite the limitations of a container garden, despite the desert sun, valley wind, and unreliable sprinkler system, despite the fact that all odds are stacked against us and we haven’t a lick of gardening sense between us, somehow, in some way we will feed ourselves from our own meager plantings. We have never come remotely close to realizing this hope, yet we foolishly blunder forward!

Our successes have been rare, but the sweet memory of them drives us onward. We had a meager feast of strawberry shortcake one evening several years ago, having tenderly picked each puny berry from our plants. Another year we harvested an impressive handful of hot peppers. Two zucchini about the size of my husband’s thumb were the prize of two years past. Last year we grew a watermelon with a remarkable diameter of two inches; it was too cute to eat. A spattering of home-grown herbs have enhanced our eating throughout our gardening attempts. Over the course of ten years, we have successfully managed to grow enough food to sustain a family of eight for fifteen minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

Some days between hugs, food for the body, food for the soul, lessons of life, lessons from books, lessons even for Mother, there is no time for written words. This is one of those days. It seems, at times, this is one of those lives.

Since I have many words to share, but cannot get any on paper (or screen) in these busy days, please take a peak at a mother’s heart with a brief visit to Ann.

To all you mothers out there who have ever hurt, struggled, cried, laughed, and loved, remember…

…His grace.

Follow these simple steps to achieve a picture-perfect family photo:

Step 1: Find a relatively clean space to squeeze eight people so all faces are showing.

Step 2: Convince the napless boy who already had a very long day that he can, indeed, stand still for another five minutes . . . okay three minutes. If necessary, bribe with M&Ms.

Step 3: Remind everyone over age three to look forward and keep smiling. No rabbit ears back there!

Step 4: Tag team the baby, also napless, also suffering from a very long day. Remind yourself that she is still in training. Consider actually giving her that bottle she’s focused on.

Step 5: Do a quick analysis of your photo editing skills.  Are you capable of pasting the baby into the photo?  If yes, you are finished.  If no, continue to step 6.

Step 6: After reminding everyone to look forward and keep smiling no matter what, make baby laugh using her favorite trick.

Step 7: Remind the photographer to take the picture after the baby lands.  Also remind girls in back row to resist the effects of gravity.  This is also a good time to casually insert an M&M reminder.

Step 8: Lower your standards.

Step 9: Success! Let’s go eat…M&Ms, what else?!

When tempted to compare your life or family to the glimpses you have of another person’s life or family, remember that behind every “perfect” picture are a whole lot of retakes, and quite possibly a little boy who, despite some solid training, is being held in place by the promise of M&Ms.

Special thanks to my brother, Jonathon, for the photo session!

Let them be girls!

Let them be beautiful.

Let them kiss babies and pick flowers.

Let them wear flowing skirts and frilly dresses that twirl.

Let them wear braids and ribbons and pretty bows in their long hair.

Let them love horses and kittens and soft fluffy puppies.

Let them skip and sing.

Girls are beautiful.

Girls are precious.

Girls are not boys.

So…

Don’t make them dress like boys.

Don’t suppress their need to mother.

Don’t undervalue their efforts at making a lovely and peaceful home.

There will always be wars and battles, smog and ugliness, greed and unrest.

What the world needs is modest beauty and gentle strength.

Let the girls learn to make home a beautiful haven.

Let them learn to be pleasant wives and loving mothers.

Let them learn to be soft and gentle in a harsh world.

Let them be who God designed them to be.

Let them be girls!

Covered in honey, how I do not know, he comes to me with his hands up, his hair stuck in impossible directions.

“I’m sticky, Mommy.”

“Tub, now!” I revert to my mono-syllabic mom-speak.

I carry Mr. Sticky to the tub, peel off the outer layer of goo which still remotely resembles a shirt and jeans, and run the water.

My smallest children have always been water magnets. They hear the water, they come running. This time is no different. With a baby on my lap and two children in the tub, I start the scrub routine, until…

“Mommy, I haffa go pottyyyyyy!”

“Ah, ah, ah, ah! Don’t go in here!” shrieks the child who all too often has been whisked prematurely out of a tub when her brother adds a little magic of his own to the mix.

I set the slippery, wet boy on the toilet against the opposite wall and return to my scrubbing.

Flying solo on the potty behind me, my in-training son shoots me in the back with…well, the only ammunition he has at the moment.

His look of shock matches mine. This child has wet on me a lot, but usually I see it coming. Being shot in the back is a new twist. The little fellow doesn’t know whether to laugh or…run! He watches my face carefully before determining his next move. Read the rest of this entry »

My five-year-old daughter has spent the past four hours digging outside…with an umbrella.

When questioned, she replied with simple optimism:

“I’m digging for water, Mommy, and I know I’m almost there!”

I am not sure if I should mention that we live in the desert, and that the water table is far, far, far below us.

I think I will just let her dig.

To those first time visitors and members of the Titus 2 Blog Party:

Welcome to the Notable Blogger! Come in and visit! Here you will read about the music, writing, and antics of my homeschooling family of eight. You will see how the Lord works in our lives, how we focus on His grace to carry us, and how we live, laugh, love and learn. Enjoy the notable moments of our walk in Grace!

Those God has given me on my journey:

My husband has set our world to song with his contemporary Christian music. He is a blessing, a real man, and a true Christian. He is all I say he is and more…even when I cannot see it!

My son has set our world to laughter with his boyish exuberance and ready grin. He is our little man, lifting our heavy loads, holding doors for his girls, and loving on his baby. Having a son after four girls has been fun to put it mildly…although potty training has been…different.

My first four daughters are young women in the making, lovely girls with a heart for their Lord and their family…and just about every four-legged creature and baby they see. I love cooking, reading, playing piano and otherwise enjoying life with them. They have started a Prayer Club on the Notable Blogger for the people around the globe who need to learn of God’s saving grace. Please feel free to join their prayer club by subscribing to the blog.

Our baby girl is round and sweet, and we can’t cherish her enough! She is a snuggler, and if that doesn’t melt away a mama’s imagined troubles, I don’t know what will! She too is blessed beyond measure to be loved as much as she is and to have as many mamas and daddies as she does! Our hearts ache for the babies of the world that are not loved as she is. If only there were enough arms….

My name is Christy, meaning follower of Christ. I try, I struggle, I fail, I get back up, sometimes only as far as my knees…always in His care and forever under His Grace, forever following my Shepherd. I love to be busy at home. It is my joy! It can try the soul at times, leaving me weary and feeling inadequate, but it is always my joy!

Thank you for visiting! Please leave a note to say you stopped by. I look forward to getting to know you!