SIMPLIFYING

I am constantly considering the way that I do things and the reason I do things the way I do. Most commonly, I rethink the way that I am parenting this small village of people under my roof. After spending a long weekend with our good friends, away from the kids and the constant motion, I learned a lot.

1. Teaching our children to respond appropriately to injustice is more important than catching the instigator.

They will continue to be antagonized throughout their lives in various circumstances. This is the perfect time to catch and correct their impulsive tendencies.

2. Modeling produces the best results.

Monkey see, monkey do.

3. We are training our children to become responsible adults by establishing good habits.

I have been toiling over the ever-growing list of rules that exist in this house. I fear that I am burdening my poor children with yoke of the law. I decided to limit video games to 2 days a week several months ago. It was a good change, but now I find some of my niños spending the entire remainder of the day, post schoolwork, buried in the mines of Minecraft. I have made casual mention of my growing disapproval of this behavior, but not wanting to place further restrictions on them without good cause, I have not established a time limit on game days. Any advice concerning this matter is most welcome!!

Tonight it occurred to me that I am not restricting these activities to be cruel or harsh, but because it is an unprofitable habit to spend countless hours mining!

The same is true for staying awake into the wee hours of morning.  (ironically, I am writing this at 1:38AM!) Haaaaahahaha! I really thought about this one though, before announcing the new "lights out" policy. I had a few children that were coming down late in the morning, crabby during the day, and displaying a bad attitude when asked to do chores not assigned to them. Come to find out, these very children were up until 2:00AM the night before. Hmph! It gave me great confidence to announce the new policy when I realized that it is an investment into their future patterns of behavior. When my daughter cried at the prospect of having to sleep at night, it shook me a little, but I stood my ground, knowing that she would see improvements right away after correcting her former habit.

I am applying this new found insight to most of the house rules. Some, of course, are for safety. Others are preventive measures to keep the peace in a house full of people. But most of them are training for life. It has helped to weed out some of the unnecessary restrictions.

In recent news, my sweet dreams of baby chicks coming home to lay have been bashed in by the ding-dang zoning laws. Because of this I have felt feverishly compelled to ready our house for sale, and I have been in search for an acreage. Please pray that the Lord will give us His favor in both of these endeavors! He is good and continues to bless us in the coolest ways. I want to please Him. On the farm. Where my destiny and the destiny of my precious country crew lie!

One more thing! I would really like to be out of one and into the next by the end of July, before Dale starts the PhD program. I'm afraid I will be on my own past that date, and frankly, I might not want to do it so badly if I have to do it without his hulking muscles!

Happy days to you, my sweet friends!

Lvb

Me

Wonder

I find myself not writing because what I have to say is maybe not worth reading. Or maybe I'm afraid you won't find it interesting. I write with you in mind and find myself not posting because most of my readership has talked or tested me recently about the very thing I am posting. Then this morning I had this thought. I find myself not reading my Bible somedays because its not enough. Either I don't have time or the attention span to finish a chapter and so I read nothing. It occurred to me that a little is certainly better than nothing! And the same principle applies here. I need to write, for me! It's a lifeline that I deny myself on account of my concern for your interest. Time for a new chapter!

One of my biggest pet peeves on Facebook, my social life, is when people list all their accomplishments in a day. But then I sit down to write an email or text or even a post on Facebook, and I am doing the same thing. It's so bizarre! What is it about that? Am I trying to impress you? Am I looking for validation? I don't really know. I want someone to care how many times I got up in the night with a sick baby. I want someone to notice that I got up early to bake break for breakfast and that I have dinner in the crockpot so that later I can sit and talk to Dale when he gets home. I want someone to say, "Hey, you are makings your own chicken stock? That's so economical and convenient!" But instead I strive in vain for that very thing by overmentioning it and the people I talk to get used to hearing me say it.

I have this great son that wakes up with a life threatening ailment every morning. I never pay attention because it's always the worst thing that's ever happened. I'll never know when he's really hurting. Same deal with me. Every day is so full of my accomplishments that no one really notices. So maybe that's what I want. I just want someone to notice that my life is a minute by minute race to help and do and prepare and clean up and organize and wipe and hold... That's why ungrateful responses send me into a tirade. I know your life is the same way. Maybe you handle it with more grace than I do.

Having said all of that, I will say this. There is nothing else in this world that I would rather do than to be the matriarch of this house to this guy and these kids. I dreamed about it til the day I joined ranks with Dale Sutton and started this journey. I am grateful, and I really do love it.

Lvb

Everything Changes

It's been 11 days since the Lord made His face to shine upon us in the birth of our precious son. It seems impossible that that much time has passed already!

The story of his birth has the fingerprint of God all over it. I want to shout it from the rooftops that the Lord was good to me in His perfect Providence.

Weeks before my due date I was already beginning to dilate, which triggered my eager anticipation of the finishline. By 38 weeks I was 3 cm dilated and 70% efaced. I was having tons of false labor and my anxiety mounted every time we left town.

I was praying for a moderately paced delivery and hoping to go on my own. At my 39 week appointment my blood pressure was unusually high. The nurse and doctor both looked at me with concerned expressions which only added to my anxiety.

To be continued...

Lvb

6 Days and Counting

Yesterday for several hours I felt the baby working its way down lower and lower. When I got home from coop Dale said my stomach had changed, obviously it had dropped.  At 7:00 I started timing contractions. Four hours I had them. I sat on the exercise ball for about half an hour a few times, which seemed to get things going once they slowed down, but at 1AM when there was no sign of baby I finally went to bed.

It seems like such a mean trick to feel all these new things everyday and none of them put me into labor.
Dale, in his sweet way, said before I went to bed, "I'm sorry you didn't have your baby yet." I didn't cry. Its not that desperate. Yet...

I know it will happen when everything is right and rushing that is a mistake. God made my body perfectly. It's just my nature to help when circumstances are not the way I think they should be!!

On a happy note, I am back under the 40 pound mark. I was very, very nervous 4 weeks ago when I gained 4 pounds between weekly visits, that I'd gain another 10 before this was all said and done. With a lot of prayer and a little restraint I have been able to scale back my sugar consumption. In turn my eating is considerably more controlled.

I will tell you this. After over a week, maybe two, of limiting sugar, I made peanut butter oatmeal butterscotch chocolate chip bars to take to church. I tasted one and couldn't stop going back to them. I felt and probably looked like Cookie Monster! And then my stomach ached for hours... I can't let my guard down. Not for a single minute! I can't do it on my own either. The Lord is my strength in ALL things!

Thanks for checking in on me. I will keep you posted!

Lvb

Hanging On

I am still here and very pregnant. Its hard to believe that I am on the outside of week from my due date. My rationale is off kilter, clearly. I've been scouring the internet for safe home induction methods for nearly two weeks now! Sheesh! How do I get so wrapped up in this crazy cycle!

I am still functioning like normal, but I am restless. Unfortunately for my house, my energy is spent scouring the internet instead of organizing and cleaning!! I am nesting, no doubt, but I am whittling away at silly projects instead of doing things that really need my attention.

On a happy note, things are good on the home front. Dale and Kennedy took a sick day today and Jas had a second round of the stomach flu. I was thankful to have the stragglers take their turns now rather than later. I will bleach and disinfect everything in the morning in anticipation of the end of our flu run.

We have a quiet week and busy weekend and start of next week. I wish it were the opposite. I need the busyness to keep me occupied and off the internet. Honestly, not an hour goes by that I don't feel like this baby could come at any second! It is messing with head. Pray for me, friends!

Lvb

Happy Birthday, Kennedy!!

I have a long list of things to do. We have company coming tonight and more company tomorrow. I should be doing laundry, cleaning under and behind furniture, organizating drawers, grocery shopping. Instead I am in my bed listening to my kids play outside.

This year we decided to take every birthday off from school. Thank you Kennedy for yet another day to let things go!!

My sweet Kennedy is 15 today. Shoot! I might cry. All of a sudden it seems like the end of her childhood is so much closer than the end! Of course it is, but it never seemed like it before now.

I could gush over how amazing and helpful and delightful she is in so many ways, but instead I will just thank God for her life. She is a blessing in the most profound way. She exemplifies how God gives us abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Lvb