You Can't Make Me Pay!

So Little Bit has been invited to go watch the new American Girl movie next week. This movie is about the girl of the year--Isabelle--of which Little Bit happens to own the doll. So, it's pretty cool to take your American Girl doll to the movie with you. Doubly cool if your doll is IN the movie! I know Little Bit would really, really like the outfit for girls that matches the doll but, you see, I'm not independently wealthy.

My word the amount that company charges. She was helping me clean out paperwork yesterday (yes, she enjoys that stuff) and we ran across the receipt for Isabelle. She said she wanted to keep it. I told her, "Yes, keep it so you can show your daughters how cheaply you got your doll! They will say, 'No fair Mom! American Girls cost $500 now!'" She cracked up.

Anyway, Mama is not dumb. I have a plan to make Little Bit an outfit that matches her Isabelle. I will share it with you when I'm done. It's going to be awesome.

We have had a pretty busy summer. For the first time ever, I signed the girls up for classes in a nearby town at their rec center. Sweetheart was supposed to take a self-defense class and her friend signed up with her. I was going to count all the hours (10 classes!) towards high school P.E. credit but, she and her friend were the only ones who signed up. Needless to say the class was cancelled.

But Little Bit's "Mini Gourmet" class was great! It lasted 4 mornings and she took it with 2 friends.

She learned to cook quite a few things and even got to help cook one of her meals for everyone at our church a few weeks later. She was very proud. 

Then last week, Little Bit attended VBS in another nearby city. She enjoyed it. I can't get over how brave she has become--this child who wouldn't talk to anyone outside of our home for years. She didn't know anyone at the VBS but just marched on in every day and had a good time. 

The last day of VBS happened to be Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. I promised her we would NOT come in and pick her up from VBS dressed as cows. So, we had our black and white on and then had to do a lot of shuffling around in the van. But we made it and had a completely free lunch for four. 

Mama has no pride. I wanted Free food! I did not wear the ears the whole time.

We also had cow toes but I'll spare you the pics of feet. I hate feet pics. 

And that reminds me that I need to remove said cow nail polish before lunch today. S and I are going to go eat to celebrate 21 years of marriage. And something tells me he'd rather not dine with a bovine wife. 

Because we're classy like that. 

In Which We Try to Undo Sloppy Habits

Yesterday I was asking and wondering about instilling good character qualities in our children. I posted on a Facebook group I am in about what resources there are to use for character training. Boy, I got a lot of responses! I'm going to be going through those and posting the ones I find interesting on here a bit later. As soon as I have time to look up all the links. Sounds like a good summer school study, don't you think? I could incorporate reading (books and stories about characters with good...um...character), possibly writing, and maybe even some good old movie watching could be involved.

We rode the ferry Saturday. Free and fun!

S and I talked about this over the weekend. He and I were trying to remember when we started to "take over" doing things of our own initiative. It was hard to remember. The reason? Because we did things because we had to do them. There was no choice. You came home from school, you got a snack and immediately started on homework. You did the dishes after supper and when everything was done, your time was your own. For him, that meant going outside to play basketball. He was motivated to get finished with his responsibilities before it was pitch black outside.

So we decided that's how things needed to be around here. Playing will happen when you are done with everything else. Now we did take recess yesterday at 10am like we are supposed to. The girls and I all went on a 30 minute bike ride. So it's not like they didn't get a break.

Bee was really excited to be on a boat. Little Bit loved watching the birds. 

Before breakfast I expected them to be up, dressed, hair fixed, and bed made. And their pajamas put away. They were already frustrated with me before we even ate. Then, before school they had to clean up their breakfast, brush their teeth and have anything else done that needed doing. It made the whole day run smoother. 

I know you're thinking....Brenda...this is not revolutionary news. I agree. I was trying to think how we even got into sloppy habits like the girls not making their beds in the mornings. I always make our bed. I always had to make my bed before school growing up.

Did a little rearranging this weekend. Surprised? Now Little Bit has her own desk. She's happy. She has to have things neat.

I believe it began with a pregnancy test. That year I was pregnant with Baby Bee...whew! Mama was tired. We did the basics. Then, of course, I had a newborn. The girls had to be pretty independent for a while there. They got breakfast themselves, they took breaks when they wanted to (I was sleeping or busy with a baby so I didn't fuss). All that to say, I think they slipped into some sloppy habits over the last few years.

So I am staying on them about picking up after themselves at every turn. I will insist responsibilities be finished before playtime. They're going to love me.

Now everyone has somewhere to work. 

This girl sits across from me now. 

But I think it will go a long way towards them looking like responsible people. And perhaps those habits are what turn you into a responsible person down the road?

I'm Either a Really Great Crafter or a Great Pinner

Can't take credit for any of the ideas. Every single one was either inspired or copied straight off of Pinterest! How I love Pinterest! In the olden days I would have had to flip through old magazines for inspiration.

Wow there's a lot of pink in this post.

Baby Bee loved passing out Valentines. And getting candy.

Bee's shirt was just 2 hearts put on with Wonder Under. And some heart pants we got somewhere. 

Of course a bird shirt for Little Bit. She loves birds. 

Little Bit's balloon was fragile and fell apart during the party. But it worked well. 

She made her own shirt. It's very light and subtle but it was just a doily used as a stencil. 

Sweetheart's box won a prize. A few years ago she was absolutely heart broken when another robot box beat hers out. She was excited to win yesterday (and to eat the pretzel she got from the snack bar!) but it amazed me the difference in her reaction compared to a few years ago. Sometimes maturing happens very gradually and we don't always notice it's been going on!

We had a great time at the party and no one broke any bones. Success!!

Now tonight we are going to have a special dinner on our china and celebrate Valentine's Day together as a family. I think that's fun. I wish more people just celebrated together instead of making it strictly about couples. It hurts a lot of people.

Having said that, S and I do plan to do something special together. Just not tonight. Restaurants are going to be really crowded tonight! Date nights are important and time as a couple is important too.

Off to wrap up the school week, get the grocery shopping done, and finish cleaning up the house for our special dinner! Busy day!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Valentine Boxes

I made sure to take pictures of our Valentine boxes this year but then realized I didn't take any with the girls holding their box.

And THAT'S what I want to remember. How they looked and how proud they were of their box! So I will take those before we leave for our skating party today. But here they are:

Little Bit's Lalaloopsy hot air balloon. Got the basket from Grandma. Bought the doilies and washi tape and balloon but some of those things served double duty for the shirts we made. 

Of course this one is Baby Bee's! Made from a cereal box wrapped in upside down Christmas wrapping paper, painted, construction paper, duct tape. Free.

Sweetheart's cupcake. Bought a paint bucket for $2 at the hardware store. Used a balloon we bought for Little Bit's box and bought tissue paper. Not too bad.

All boxes inspired or copied straight from Pinterest. Thank you Pinterest! They also worked hard on their Valentines. Bee painted 6 pieces of paper and I printed the To and From on top of the painting and cut each sheet up into 9 cards. 

Working hard!!!

Dollar store stickers add the finishing touch. Total cost: $1

And Little Bit opted to do part store-bought and part homemade.

And Sweetheart made all hers from an idea in her American Girl magazine. Will have to get a picture of hers later.

I'm very proud of all the girls for their hard work! And we made Valentine shirts! I'll get pics of those later too!

Early Monday Morning

S has been very helpful and supportive with my homeschool concerns lately. He's home enough now to see for himself the problems I have with keeping Sweetheart on task and on schedule and not distracted and not losing things, etc. When he had his mowing business he was gone a lot. I'm thankful that preaching-as-a-second-job allows him to be home so much more. He's very helpful!

It always surprises me when I give one of the girls a direction and they are whining or begging for some other thing and he cuts in with, "Go do it!" to the girl. Ah. So nice and refreshing to cut all that jabber and just have them go obey.

I know I could/should cut them off every time and have them obey like that, but honestly it is very tiring to always be the one giving directions. I think that's one thing about homeschooling that's exhausting---the directing all the time. To be the one constantly re-directing, checking on, getting on to, encouraging, instructing, keeping on task....

Does that tire you out too?

Maybe that's just parenting.

It's easier to ignore them and just think, "I don't hear any sounds of violence coming from their room so things must be good." It's easier--but not better.

So he said he would get Sweetheart up at 6 every morning so she can have time to get ready and get her physical therapy done. Her stretches and exercises take 45 minutes twice a day--a real time sucker! This morning Bee happened to call for me at 6:15 and that was the first any of us knew it was morning. Thankfully, I got her up and she got going. In fact, she's in the living room getting Bee dressed now. So nice for her to have time to get her stuff done AND be helpful!

Mondays are choir days for us. Choir is about 30-45 minutes away. We have to pack school work, choir stuff, lunches, toys for Bee, and stuff for me to do. It's an endeavor let me tell you. And then when we get home there is more school work to do.

Which is why I love Tuesdays. Tuesdays we stay home. ***big smile***

But first I must make it through today where I set the timer for every single thing Sweetheart does to keep her on track, assign homework for what is not finished, keep after her to pick up after herself following any activity, while also teaching a 4th grader and managing a 1 year old.

A one year old who scratched me on Sunday morning. I said, "Why on earth did you do that?" and she said, "I a tiger."

Then when we got to church she ran 15-20 laps around the auditorium. We were hoping that would tire her out for during church but ha ha. Needless to say, I made use of the cry room on Sunday and there was crying. And I wasn't even trying to make her sit! I was letting her play! Some days it just isn't happening. She was in such a fine mood. After church she walked across the big field by our church and then when she got back to the car she was hanging from the door handles saying, "I a ooh-aah!" (monkey). Oh it was quite a morning. I should have known after I took this picture Sunday morning before church:

One day THIS one will be my 8th grader.

And you know what? I can't wait.

 Because I love every single one....

 ...of these girls....

...so stinkin' much!

Even early on a Monday morning.

Keepers End of Year Ceremony

We wrapped up our Keepers at Home club this year by giving the girls all the badges they had earned throughout the year. They earned a lot! We invited grandparents and let them know how proud we were of them all.

Little Bit and Sweetheart posing by the display table. We had the girls' scrapbooks to share.

Carrie made programs. We are very official.

Grandma looking at things with Sweetheart.

We took turns giving little talks to explain some of the activities they had done this year.

Then, they got their badges!

Very proud of these girls!
Emily--10, Little Bit--9, Sweetheart--13, and Kate--14

My parents with Bee.

Matt got a very special award. :) As the only brother who attended every meeting of a girls' club, he was VERY helpful with Bee this year!

Back At It

We just got home from a weekend away and it was wonderful! We went to see our good friends, the Holiday family, who moved away at the end of August. We got to spend the whole weekend together---kids playing, adults talking----so nice. The drive to Louisiana wasn't bad at all and the girls rode wonderfully in the van. Couldn't ask for a better weekend!

And now I find myself refreshed! (Forgot what that felt like!) I actually feel ready to get back to school tomorrow and work on the house (which we left clean--so nice to come home to!) and just get things done.

But tonight I have some questions for you:

1. HOW is it already the end of January????? This school year is flying by!

2. If you really want your daughters to grow up to be wives and mothers and homemakers--then what should their high school credits look like? Mrs. Holiday and I were talking about that this weekend. College is a great idea I suppose. I encourage the girls to think about "careers" or "jobs" where they could earn money and take care of their family such as photography, cosmetology, etc. Flexible things where they could work part time or from home if they needed to. But if we're serious about raising godly homemakers then what does that make high school look like? Personal finance or stewardship courses, homemaking classes, photography as an elective? What do you think?

3. How do you make a 45 year old house look new(er) without spending an arm and a leg? This is the Year of Fixing Up the House here at the House Revised. Thinking ahead to one day getting out from under a mortgage and being ready to go wherever the Lord should lead....no plans mind you just wanting to be not so tied down and burdened...so, where do you start on that? I mean besides pinning stuff on Pinterest. Ha!

Until I hear from you on this, I'll just resume pinning.

The Myth of Independence

I recently turned down an invitation for a birthday party and sleepover for Sweetheart. It was for one of her oldest friends, but a friend we don't see very often anymore. I guess that's mostly because this friend goes to public school and everyone just gets so busy.

After I said she couldn't go, I felt bad. I have to tell Sweetheart today that she was invited but isn't going. I have to explain why---well, I don't HAVE to, but I will. How do you explain to a 12 year old all the complex reasons that her Dad and I understand, but she likely will not?

It hurts to do things differently than others. I know so many children Sweetheart's age who go and do tons of stuff apart from their family. It seems in other families that by this age, really...she "should be" more independent.

But we are a family. We are her parents. WE are responsible for her. WE are called to teach, protect, and raise her. I know that doesn't mean she can't ever leave our presence! But it does mean we must use wisdom in who we let her spend time with, where we let her go, and how much we let her be away from the rest of her family.

My beautiful Bee--photographed by H-Mama. 

The problem is, I don't buy this whole "independence thing."

I first ran across this when Sweetheart was 8 (our first year of homeschooling) and she was in a homeschool Girl Scout troop. Overall it was a good experience. But then I found out that the end of year camping trip was one which parents were most assuredly NOT invited. I wasn't comfortable letting my 8 year old go an hour or 2 away from home with only a few adults who I didn't know all that well in charge. So I volunteered mid-year to be a leader. It was a pain in the neck, but it allowed me to go on the camping trip with them. The camping trip where 20-30 little girls slept in a cabin all by themselves in 30 degree weather. (And the older girls were in cabins by themselves too.) The adults all slept in a separate cabin.

That was all fine, but it was the explanation I received from one of the leaders that concerned me. 

"Parents aren't allowed to go camping with them because our goal is for them to learn 

to be independent of their parents." 

Hmm. See? That's wasn't one of our parenting goals. Don't get me wrong--I understand that one day our daughters will grow up and move out. They may get married. They will not live with us forever. I know this. But is independence the goal? 

Little Bit and Sweetheart enjoying the water.

A friend posted on Facebook the other day about her baby still waking up several times a night. Of course everyone was telling her in the comments to let the child cry it out. One of her friends said, "It's the first step to teaching them independence." Really? A 9 month old baby needs to start learning independence? 

Even if you think a baby doesn't need to learn it, most people think at some point a child needs to. I know many people think that a girl needs to be on her own a few years before settling down. She needs to go to college. Get her own apartment. Have a career. Go on trips. I don't know what they think. But I would be perfectly happy for my girls to go straight from our house to their husband's home. I went to college. I had an apartment. It was kind of lonely. I felt unprotected, honestly. I was homesick. 

Now this isn't to say that we will have our thumb on them until they walk down the aisle. A child can remain living in their parents' home AND have a job, go to college, etc. They can live as a young adult in our home, and still be a part of this family. I have visions of Sweetheart attending college, and then also helping with the dishes after supper. Not because she'll get grounded if she doesn't (!) but because helping with the dishes is something you DO when you are part of a family. 

And then when/if our daughters get married, they will be a part of a new family with their husbands. They will be a part of a church family. I don't see a whole lot of "independence" in the life of a Christian. We have fellowship with one another. We are called to be part of a family. 

Does this mean it is wrong for a child to move out on their own? Well, I think the answer might be different for boys and girls. Call me sexist, it's what I think. But no, I do not believe it is wrong for a girl to move out of her parent's home. I just feel it isn't all that necessary most of the time and certainly not imperative. 

So the question is, how to raise daughters who do not grow up believing their rights are being violated. How to keep their hearts from rebellion. How to keep them from feeling hurt/left out by our decisions that go against what we see around us. It's much easier when you have like-minded families around. I have several friends who I know would have turned down this same birthday invitation had it been for their daughter. I don't feel crazy--I'm just worried about how our girls will feel the more our path seems to deviate from the norm. 

The thing is...this birthday could just as easily be celebrated with families. That's how I hope for my girls' parties to be--families coming together to celebrate. Isn't that how it would have been done a really long time ago? When did things change? When did 12 year old girls start being independent from their families? Is that healthy?

Your thoughts?

Keepers of the Home

Not really sure where I first heard about the Keepers of the Faith clubs, but I'm sure it was from blogs. A good friend was also aware of them, having some real life friends in another state who had participated in them. This last fall we decided to start a club for our (collective) 6 girls.

The boys' club is called "Contenders of the Faith" and the girls' club is called "Keepers at Home." The different thing about these clubs is they are parent-run. There is no national or local organization over you. They are completely autonomous. Very appealing to me! You know we did homeschool Girl Scouts for one year. Shudder. And thought seriously about doing American Heritage Girls. While I was a fan of the IDEA of AHG, we weren't a fan of sending our 4th grader (at the time) off on multiple camping trips away from us. Families, just like in GS, were not invited and I have a problem with that.

We kicked our club off in October. There are SO many badges the girls can earn. And that was Sweetheart's favorite part of GS--earning those badges! The great thing about Keepers is that it is for girls ages 4-18. So everyone can participate together. We decided since our families were going camping anyway, we might as well have the girls earn their camping badges.

We had them meet the requirements (setting up a tent, planning meals, helping pack, unpack, and clean up camp) and they were having so much fun it didn't even seem like work. (the 6th child was only 1 1/2 on this trip so she isn't an "official" club member. But try telling her that!)

From there, the other mom and I just got together periodically and planned badges that the girls could meet requirements for quickly. I'm pregnant and we didn't have a lot of time to plan before we started so we were all about getting them some easy badges this year! We found a few they had already met requirements for (hers, because they participate in a music co-op and ours for pet care) and presented all their earned badges in December at a special ceremony.

We mostly worked on crafty-type badges this year (plastic canvas, rubber stamping, etc.) but there are SO MANY other kinds of badges I want to explore next year. There are personal goal badges like organization, Bible study badges, skills (first aid, etc.)...all kinds of things!

We ordered the sashes this year and presented them with their year end badges last week at a restaurant. It was really neat to have the Dads there to pray over them and affirm how hard they have worked on learning skills that will help them as wives and mothers.

I'm excited about next year with this club. We will most likely have some new members. We will definitely be better planned. We did a good job this year, but we learned a lot along the way. These clubs have so much potential and you can just take them in any direction you want to--focusing on what is most needed for your children and family.

Here is the website if you are interested!

Looking Ahead..WAY Ahead

Happens every year. Most of us homeschool Moms start planning and looking ahead to next year before THIS year is quite over. It's perfectly normal. And WAY more fun than finishing THIS year!

I've been on Pinterest lately pinning summer activities for the girls. I imagine we won't be going a lot of places for a while, and I still want them to have some fun. Working on that.

Also, it's fun to look ahead to next year. It's time we are writing off those things that did not go so well this year and looking for how we can improve in those areas. Pinterest is good for that too!

We won't actually finish the year up before baby comes, so I can't start packing away this year's materials just yet. Well, actually I don't pack them away, but rather organize them and put them neatly out of sight in the cabinet. We'll have some finishing to do over the summer.

So here's some things I'm doing (or will do) to get ready for summer and next school year:

1. Straighten up the homeschool cabinet. Sigh. It doesn't look like that ^ anymore!

2. Go through our library shelves and pull books that I think Little Bit can read to me over the summer. I'm delighted to find a lot of books I choose too easy for her! Oh, it's still good for her to read them but she just flies through them with little to no help so I know they aren't at her instructional level.

3. Make sure the girls' rooms are clean and organized. Messy rooms are no fun to play in and when you can't find all your toys that go together, you won't play with them. Also, doing one last sweep through their rooms will ensure they are easier for the girls to keep up with on their own.

4. Get things a little more organized in the laundry room. We all know that laundry can de-rail anything...the summer, next year, everyday life. If the laundry is out of control, life is out of control too!

5. Get a chore system figured out for the summer. I know I will need extra help for a while with a newborn in the house and the girls are very capable of helping, but I'd like to not have to think about it so much later on. Better to have some sort of a plan now. I'd like it to almost be a schedule thing--like we do this certain thing on Mondays, etc.

6. Most importantly, plan for fun! There are tons of ideas online for free things to do in the summer with your kiddos. I want fun, learning, and most of all, for them to NOT just wander around being bored while I'm taking care of the new baby. Best to have some ideas in place beforehand, right?

What are you doing to get ready for summer and next year?