A Very Merry Christmas!

Thanks to the generosity of some very dear friends, we all had a very merry Christmas! We are so blessed to have so many looking after us. The kids got exactly what they wanted. I loved seeing all their expressions, since they all knew we didn't exactly have a Christmas present fund this year.

Thomas has some odd domestic fascination with our vacuum cleaner, so for months I planned on getting him a toy one. He was SO excited (this is Thomas excited, yet being modest for the camera) and played with that vacuum for 4 hours straight til I took him to take a nap. He almost had to take it to bed that night. He has now finally taken an interest in his new Veggie Tales.



The girls really wanted American Girl dolls. Here is Bethany with "Kaya".



Brooke wanted "Felicity" since her hair is similar to her own. She kept looking at her wrapped package and just knew it was a "cameran" doll, as she calls it, just because she wanted it so bad. Oh, the childlike faith!

Tristan the Builder

And, here are the three oldest with some gaming miniatures they'd been hoping for.

We rounded out the day with dinner at our friends' house, along with two other couples and their children, playing Wii, pool and eating plenty of dessert.

"Not Me!" Monday

Hi! My name is Thomas and there's a few things that I definately did not do today.

I didn't help my brothers and sisters decorate our very first every Gingerbread Train, because Target ran out of houses.

I definately didn't eat all the candy off of the gingerbread train when no one was looking, because everyone paid very close attention to me all day.

And, green is most certainly not my new favorite color.

"Not me!" Monday

I've been following the things that McMama is not doing, and I thought of a few things that I didn't do today either.

I most certainly didn't eat 3 chocolate covered doughnuts today and call it "therapy" because that would totally be pigging out.

I wasn't completely relieved when Thomas's Jolly Green Giant diapers finally stopped today after he ate green food coloring on Thursday.

I didn't even get a headache this morning while we did schoolwork, because the kids always listen and do exactly what they are told. Without whining. Or arguing.

I am totally not addicted to People's Court and Judge Judy. I did not spend two hours sitting on my bed this afternoon watching them.

And, I did not think that Thomas saying "No way Jose" was the funniest thing when I told him to bring me something, because I would never let him get away with sassing me. And I didn't think it was equally as funny when he said, "Disgusting, Mom" while he tried to wipe his own butt during above mentioned diaper change.

This week

My, my how time has flown. Is it really less than two weeks from Christmas already? We are supposed to be doing school work today, but we aren't. Instead we are going to do some major clutter/house reorganizing. David will be helping me since he is at home. (Yes, still waiting on the J-O-B.)

Wednesday we had a pet for the morning. A pit bull wandered into our yard and got its leash stuck on our garbage can wheel. So I went out (no, I'm not a dog-a-phobe) and unhooked him. He really was a friendly dog, but definately a puppy. Did NOT know the meaning of "sit". So, I hooked him to our front porch in hopes that someone would come looking and see him there. But, no one did. The kids had already named him- Stucky or something like that- because he kept getting stuck with his chain around the porch post. Not the smartest dog.......

Anyway, I went ahead and called animal control who planned to send someone out. We couldn't keep him long, I mean he was a pit bull and they are so unpredicatable. And, no my children only watched the dog through the front door. They didn't get to pet him.

Animal control called me back after about 15 minutes and told me the owner had called and lived two streets over and would be there to get him shortly. So, that was the end of our brief adventure as pet owners. Well, we were really just pet sitters.

Tomorrow, Lowe's is having a "Make your own project" day, and they are cute wooden gingerbread houses, So, we are going to head over there in the morning, then take in our Scholastic warehouse sale afterwards. I really didn't plan to go, but Brittany is begging to look for more Royal Diaries to add to her collection. They've had them in the past for $1 apiece.
On Sunday, we'll head over to the annual Blythewood Christmas parade in the afternoon. We've gone every year for about the past 6 years or so. The kids love it when they throw out candy. So, then next week we will be homeschooling to the max, to make up for this week's distractions.

Some great mysteries of life....

How does needing 10 things at the grocery store turn into needing 25 things once I get there?

Why do my children spill chocolate milk on the floor and go get a baby bassinett sheet and my placemat from Zimbabwe to clean it up with?

How does a lunch of sandwiches and chips turn into three sinkfuls of dirty dishes?

It's sort of reminds me of that old commercial with the owl, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know...."

Monday Musings

I had meant to post this yesterday, but I just didn't have time. I had the baby ultrasound yesterday and all is fine with the little one. I am 27 weeks with a due date on Tristan's birthday, February 23. Now, we all know it will be March before I actually have the baby. LOL Unfortunately, I did not pass the glucose test, which means I have to drag myself at 5:30 am over to the hospital next Monday for the three hour test. There is also one more health issue that I should have the results by the same Monday.

David has an interview this morning. We are praying, praying that this is what God wants for us. Things are pointing in this direction. Hopefully we will know more by this afternoon.
Our computers have not been getting a good internet connection lately. It takes forever to download something, worse than dial up. We thought maybe it is the router, so we unplugged mine from the router and just plugged David's straight into the internet connection. Anyway, that leaves my computer without internet. The kids always are asking to play on my computer and when I said it wasn't working, Tristan said, "Did your computer run out of gas?" :)

Monday Musings

Everyone's current hobbies:

David: facebook, looking for a new job

Courtney: playing Webkinz arcade games- I admit it.

Brittany: facebook, email, writing a book

Tyler: reading, playing computer games

Timothy: playing Heroscape

Bethany: sucking her thumb, playing outside

Brooke: playing outside, aggrivating Tristan

Tristan: talking potty mouth, aggrivating Brooke

Thomas: watching Veggie Tales, taking off his pants and diaper and running around "nudey bottom"

A Series of Unfortunate Events

That's what I think I will retitle my blog as. We have fallen victim to the economy as well. My husband was fired last week from his job at an investment firm.
I was literally devastated and had a hard time letting go of the career that we put everything (literally everything) into to make it work. This was going to be the career that led to bigger and better things for us. But, for some reason beyond what I can understand, God did not let that happen. Now we are back to square one, only a lot more in debt, and exhausted from hanging on by a string for two years. Ugh.
It really wasn't anything he did wrong. He just didn't bring in enough commssion. To let him go with the economy this way- was it really fair? I guess they had to do what they had to do.
I am disappointed, and I guess at times worried about what will come next. I really wanted this career to work out, but I think I am done crying and finally ready to take a deep breathe and see what God will bring our way. Here are some things I am certain of.

1. God will provide for His children. We have seen Him work in our lives many times.
2. I am still a blood-bought child of the King.
3. I will have abundance one day- forever in heaven.
4. My husband loves God. All of my children love God.
5. I can feel the kicks of another little one in the womb, that will also one day love God.
6. God will supply all of our needs.
7. We have wonderful supportive friends.
8. It only took me 20 minutes. to vote on Tuesday.

I've been tagged!

My friend mykidsmatter2 has tagged me..........

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and put the rules on your blog...
2. Share 7 weird or random facts about yourself...
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and link to their blog...
4. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a note on their blog...

Here are my 7 random facts.........
1.I always have room for dessert.
2. I used to sell Mary Kay, but I rarely wear make-up.
3. I LOVE to read.
4. I don't really like to cook- or clean bathrooms.
5. I was editor of my high school newspaper.
6. I am Queen of "Can I find this cheaper somewhere else?"
7. I collect coins.

I am going to tag...... TKDMAMA, Anne, mkpierce, JADsmama3, pbrfans1, MichelleL, and Joycemarie.................

Going Batty!

This afternoon Timothy comes downstairs and tells me that the mouse is in the bathroom.

Two days ago..........

Tyler wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks he sees a mouse. Two of the other kids comfirm this. They've seen it in the upstairs bathroom. "Oh, please don't tell me that!" I'm thinking. Mice are so evasive. We haven't had a mouse in the house in four years.

Yesterday.........

Another confirmed mouse sighting. I decided I would go this week to get some traps at the store.

Today............

Timothy tells me that the mouse is in the bathroom. I said, "Is it in there right now?" He says yes, and I think that's odd because mice tend to scurry away when detected. "I better go investigate this", I say. So, I went upstairs and Timothy shows me that the mouse is on the wall vent. Hmmm. How would a mouse get on the outside of that wall vent and stay there so still and not moving? I walk over to the mouse thinking that it must somehow be dead and rigormortised to the vent. After closer examination I realize that indeed it is not a dead mouse, but a bat! I was a little freaked out because we've never had a bat in the house. I wasn't sure how to get it out and I didn't want to risk getting bitten. And,the kids sure weren't volunteering!
Brooke let me know that she'd seen it last night and it flew by her head. I knew she'd come and told me about seeing a mouse, but she never mentioned that it flew. So, I asked her why she hadn't mentioned that little bit of information last night and she says, "Well, I thought mice flew sometimes." No, sweetie, not usually............

I didn't know how it would react. Would it go bonkers like a caught squirrel? Would it lash at me with it's vampire fangs? I put on a pair of winter gloves and a pair of latex cleaning gloves over those. Then I walked over and very carefully picked it up off the vent and walked outside. The little thing just sat trembling on my hand. It was so incredibly cute! We talked to it and stroked it and tried to feed it banana for about 15 minutes. Then, it decided to stop socializing and spread it's wings and flew off. The kids wished we could have kept it as a pet. Tristan suggested we could have made a cage for it. I agreed that if a bat ever gets stuck in our upstairs bathroom again, that we would make a cage and keep it for a while.

Monday Musings

Overheard in the Sanchez home...............

Do your schoolwork!

I'm done! (Yelled from the potty.)

Get your chores done!

No, we don't speak spanish. (After the millionth phone call from companies trying to reach the "Hispanic community")

_______ bit/kicked/punched/hit me.

Where is the other shoe?

Your shirt is on backwards.

Did you brush your teeth?

No, you can't play on the computer right now.

Yes, you can watch PBS kids.

No, school is not over.

Be kind.

What do you mean the toilet is clogged?!

What's for breakfast/lunch/dinner?

I don't like green beans.

You don't have to like it, you just have to eat it.

Hello? No, I would not like to donate any money to the police/fireman/cancer/college/poltical/save the tree fund.

This needs new batteries.

Can I have a cracker?

I want juice!

Why is the floor so sticky?

Why did you change clothes again?

Where is the phone?

Do not whack your brother with a hatchet/sword/light saber.

Please bring me a diaper and wipes.

How did God build all the houses?

Vroooommm. (While pushing a plane/train/automobile)

Okay, I'll be Lana and let's pretend we borrowed our grandfather's car and we drive to the store and this can be your purse and this will be my baby and ...............

Can we go outside?

I can't find my scissors/glue stick/crayons/pencils.

Oh no! Was that a library book!

Go back to the table to eat that.

What day is it today?

Let's play Legos.

Thomas is eating a lego.

I love you, Mom.

Goodnight!

Frog Lapbooks

We have finished our habitat study of "wetlands". The younger kids made these frog lapbooks.
We used several of the printables from Homechool Share. I don't remember where the cover came from-possibly the same site. The green accordian fold is the "tadpole to frog" life cycle cards.

My six year old completed hers with minimal instruction from me. My five year old completed hers with a little more instruction, and even my three year old could do his coloring and pasting with a little help cutting and laying things out from me.

Tasty Thursday

Paella (You know, the Spanish dish)

1 cup cooked rice
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. onion, diced
1/2 c. green pepper, diced
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 oz. smoked sausage, sliced and halved
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet and saute onions and peppers til crisp tender. Add chicken and saute til it's half cooked. Add remaining ingredients except garlic and tomatoes. Stir and cover til shrimp and chicken are fully cooked. Stir in tomatoes and garlic. Stir in cooked rice and serve.

**I usually at least double this for us. Also, hubby doesn't like shrimp, so I omit them and it's fine.

Monday Musings

Tristan (3 and 1/2): "Mom!! Everytime I sit down in these pants, the pants sleeves come up!!"

Well, why don't we call them "pant sleeves"? We don't call sleeves "shirt arms". Something to think about.

For richer or for poorer

I know I am not the only one wondering what is going on with the economy right now. My husband works right in the financial business and our sole income is based on the commission from who invests money with him. Right now, everyone is freaking out and no one wants to invest money. It has been difficult for the past two years, since he started this new job. At first, because it takes a while to build up a client base, but this year because of the turmoil with the market. Is God testing us or what? (I am laughing to myself because I already know this answer.)

God has been working on me lately in a lot of ways. I tend to get fearful, which I think a lot of women do, when finances aren't in line, and when money is just not coming in period. But, God patiently continues to remind me that the government is NOT in control, the stock market is NOT in control, the bank is NOT in control, and, most importantly, I am NOT in control. I started a notebook two years ago to list all the ways, big and small, that God has met our needs. And, I started jotting down scripture that really allowed me to keep hanging on. Maybe these verses will be an encouragement to anyone else in the same situtation.
We may not have what the world calls riches right now, and we may never in this life. But, according to God, we are abundantly rich-we have all the riches in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4:19 "And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Phillipians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Psalm 37:7 "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him...."

Psalm 40:1 "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to me and heard my cry."

Psalm 55:22 "Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He willl sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."

Joel 2:25-26 "Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. And you shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; then my people will never be put to shame."

I love this next verse. I love the fact that He "delights" in me. (Go read from the Bible the entire beginning to verse 18.)

Psalm 18:19 "He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me because He delighted in me..."

And my mantra lately.......

Proverbs 3: 5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and DO NOT lean on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes..."

Monday Musings

I constantly have to remind Timothy that he can't write all in capital letters for his schoolwork. So, I'm always going over when to capitalize and when not to. I was helping him with his English lesson last week, when yet again we were reviewing capitalization.
Me: "You have to make these lower case letters. And what do you do here at the beginning of this sentence?"
Timothy: "I know, I know- capitalism!"

Some silly kids...............

Monday Musings: AAAH! Nature! Edition

We've been outside all week so far because we are so excited about this 70 degree weather this week. However, we have encountered our share of creepy crawlies.

Brooke: "Whew! I'm so glad that jacket is gone!" (A "yellow" jacket was a flying nemesis the day before.)
Tyler: "OH My Gosh! There is a snake!" (Seen when down at the creek at the neighborhood park. Probably, and quite creepily, a cotton mouth not more than five feet from 4 of my children.)

Also seen at the park: a small lizard, a green beetle, a black beetle, a huge dead bee and and some lovely goldenrod.

Monday Musings

What my children wear to church when I don't supervise them, and don't notice the details of what they picked out until we are actually at church getting out of the van.

Bethany: white skirt with stains
Brooke: a dress with a missing button, socks that are on upside down with sandels
Tristan: pants that are on backwards (which isn't really surprising becasue he always puts his clothes on backwards)
Thomas: dirty shirt- that smells funny

Conversation this afternoon:
Timothy: May I have some hot chocolate, Mom?
Me: Yes
Bethany: May I have some, too?
Me: Yes
Brooke: Can I have some hot chocolate?
Me: Yes
Tristan: Can I have some....
Me: YES
Thomas: Chockit?
Me: YES!

Penguin Lapbooks

The younger kids finished their penguin lapbooks yesterday. Tyler, Timothy, Bethany, Brooke and Tristan are studying the various habitats for the first half of the school year. We are covering Arctic/Antarctica, deserts, oceans, tropical rain forests, North American Temperate Forest/Mountains, swamps/marshes/rivers and grasslands. We're spending two weeks per habitat and they just finished Arctic/Antarctica. The two older boys are making a notebook with cardstock paper dividing each habitat. They are assembling a few small minibooks and cutouts that I'm just having them mount on cardstock and sticking in the notebook, as well as a few report sheets, maps and such. The younger kids are doing one lapbook per habitat, and this one happened to be penguins.

We added on a sheet of cardstock, attached with clear tape, because all the little things wouldn't fit in the folder alone. I got several little booklets from Homeschool Share. It's the study on Mr. Popper's Penguins, but we didn't read that book.

I used a sheet of small penguins to make some math flash cards, made a foldover and stapled pocket for them, and labeled it "Penguins 1 2 3". This was from a "Teacher Created Resources" book I picked up at a yardsale. I made the blue accordian fold bookelt from that also. It was a page with a penguins life throughout the seasons.

We found some penguin info. cards at Seaworld.org. I have gotten a lot of info. from this site for other habitats, also.

I used a shape book template of a penguin from ABCteach. There are other printables on this link that you could even use for older chidlren. I cut out three little construction papers, folded them over, and on the outside listed one question on each about penguins: What do penguins eat? Do penguins fly? Do penguins lay eggs? They pasted these on the penguin template.

The color page I got from Dover books weekly sampler.

We also cut out a black penguin from construction paper and glued cotton balls to his chest, and an orange beak and feet, and wiggly eyes.

We were going to make these cupcakes, but we ended up making brownies instead.

Pass the peas, please.

Thomas decided to get creative with his Sunday dinner yesterday. He shoved a little green pea up his nose. I couldn't get it out. It kept scooting up further until I couldn't even see it. I tried getting him to blow, used the bulb syringe and held the other side of his nose closed, but to no avail. I took him to Doctor's Care, since I didn't want to go to the ER and they're the only other place that's open on Sunday. I paid them $142 for them to tell me that it was stuck too far up and I should go to the ER. So, off to Richland's Children's ER we went to sit and wait for three hours to be seen. ( I cringe because none of this is covered by our insurance because we have the high deductible policy.) Thomas was very good throughout all the waiting. He played with some other kids in the waiting area (hopefully not picking up any extra germs), sat quietly, and looked at a book or two. He did become very suspicious of anyone in scrubs after the screaming fit at Doctor's Care when they were just looking in his nose.

Finally, they called us back-we had to be in this teeny, tiny triage room, because they had no more rooms availlable, when finally an intern (?) who looked like he graduated med. school yesterday, came in with a paperclip folded into a loop at the end. Wait just a minute people. This isn't the picture the Doctor's Care guy was painting for me when he suggested I go to the Children's ER. Granted I have been there several times before, but never to have an object removed from so near to my child's brain. The Doctor's Care guy assured me that the ER does this type of thing all the time, they have a professional sucky thing that will pull it right out and no damage to his little nose. And if necessary, so it won't be too traumatic they can give him an anesthesia sucker and he would drift off to dreamland while they extracted said pea, and he would wake up in a field of daisies none the wiser. What I get is a kid coming at my son with a looped paperclip in a broom closet.

I felt somewhat better after he told me they succesfully took a kernel of corn from a kid's ear last week. I'm assuming he survived the experience and isn't deaf. So, after a few minutes of holding Thomas down as he was trying to wrestle free and let us know, not so nicely, that he was not enjoying this experience (my, I didn't realize how strong a one year old could be) the notorious pea was removed, and was stuck with all it's glorious green-ness at the end of the looped paperclip.

Thomas' good humor was now done. He was a crying break down, and escaped out the door when I set him down to give my back a break and we were waiting for them to come back with the discharge paperwork. He ran to the end of the hall, only to collapse at the closed exit door crying, "Van! Van!" I scooped him up and took him back to the room. I knew he was hungry and thirsty, so I told him I would take him to get a burger and fries. (I had a coupon for a free happy meal from Burger King.) So, then he cried, "Fries! Fries!" It was sadness. He did calm down after getting to the van, and he was back to himself after getting some food in his little tummy.
After we got back home, the kids were wondering about the little toy he got in the happy meal. We really haven't eaten out much at all in a long while, and when we have, we haven't bought happy meals. I probably haven't bought a happy meal in three years. So Brooke, says, "A toy came with his burger and fries? Wow!" Apparently the poor dears are very deprived! lol

Tae Kwon Do mini tournament

The four oldest kids were in a Tae kwon do tournament this morning. It was very last minute that we decided to go ahead and let them participate (their instructor had called us and asked if they could) and they were a little nervouse since we hadn't been in five months. Timothy and Bethany only did the sparring event, Tyler did sparring and weapon's form, and Brittany did sparring, weapon's form, and regular forms. Of course, they had nothing to worry about- they all did great. But, of course, I am a proud mama who would say that anyway. :)

Bethany took 2nd place in sparring. I couldn't seem to get one of her facing me. She's the black belt.

Timothy took second place in sparring, also. He creamed the kid from the first round, but then his best friend creamed him in the second round! I don't think Timothy was too upset, though! (Timothy is facing the camera.)

Tyler took first place in sparring and in weapon's form. Tyler is wielding his numchuks. (I'm not even sure how to spell "numchuks".) Tyler is in the blue top. That means he is a junior instructor under the age of 12.

Brittany took first place in forms. She was competing against four 3rd degree black belts who are all older than her, and she nailed them in all. However, the tide turned in weapon's form. She did fine, but had only been practicing numchuks for less than two months before we stopped going. The other girls had double numchuks and she only had single. So, she placed third out of five. And, for the first time in a tournament she didn't place at all in sparring. She was up against the 3rd degrees again, and although she earned two points for kicking the opponent in the head, the other girl got to five points first. Brittany is in the red top-that means she's a junior instructor over the age of 12.

A red-headed spectator.

Some political thoughts

I've had a few days to think and reflect on this whirlwind political scene. I'm quite shocked at the nomination of Sarah Palin for vice president. My forte certainly isn't politics, and I have to admit, I hadn't even heard of Sarah Palin before last week. I watched the Republican National Convention (after watching the Democratic one last week) and I though her speech was motivating and what the Republican party needed to hear. I wonder why McCain's staff convinced him to choose Palin when, in fact, he wanted to choose Joe Leiberman. Could it be because this was a breath of fresh air and change for the Republicans? Could it be that this would be the only way to have an advantage up on the Democrats- a first woman V.P. running against the possibility of Obama's being the first black president? Could it be that they felt that the women who supported Hillary, but not Obama would now support McCain with a woman V.P?
But, there's one issue that keeps coming to my mind. How can this woman be vice president of a superpower like America and take care of five children, the youngest of which is an infant with Down's Syndrom? I have a very close freind whose daugher has Down's, and she needs so much extra care, because it takes her so much longer to reach milestones, some of which she may never reach. Who will care for this baby that will definately need full time care, not to mention the other children? How could she possibly juggle that with the demands of a job like Vice President of America?
Sarah Palin seems like a really neat person. I don't dislike her at all. She seems so much like an ordinary mom that I could laugh with at mom's night out, or the kids' sports practice. But, I do not think that God intended her to be in this role with young children that need to be cared for. It has been brought to my attention that in the Bible when the men didn't lead, Deborah and Queen Esther stepped up to get things done. I'm not sure that's even comparable here. We aren't told, and have no evidence of, these women even having children at this time. Deborah refers to herself as a "Mother in Israel" (Judges 5:7)but there is no evidence that this means with natural children. I do know that God does not contradict himself. He says in Titus 2 for women to be "workers at home". And, he does give many clear pictures of women who stayed home and raised the next generation of men who would lead. What about Eunice who raised Timothy, and Jocabed who got Moses back to raise? What if Mary had run off to other engagements and left Jesus to be raised by who knows? What about the Shunammite woman who was at home with her son, and available to host Elisha, a prophet of God? What about the Proverbs 31 woman? Could her husband and children really rise up and call her blessed if they really didn't know her because she was always away running her country?
Would Sarah Palin's time not be better spent raising her sons to be the ones to stand up and lead and she, herself, not have to be the "pitbull in lipstick"? And, raise her daughters to raise up their sons to be the next generation to lead? I have brown hair and glasses. I can be fiesty. Should I put my kids in school, hire a nanny and run for governor? NO! The responsibility of a woman to raise her children and make her home is just so misunderstood. Especially if you have children, that is the single most important thing you should do. I do firmly believe that the moral decline, the crime, the decay in education, and a host of other issues we are facing in America is a direct result of the feminism movement and the idea that women can and should have the right to do whatever in the world they please. John McCain said in his convention speech that he learned as a POW that there was a cause bigger than himself. Well, guess what? Raising your children is a bigger cause than yourself! If God gives you children to raise, He is not going to contradict that by caling you to something that would take you away from them.
On a second note, what about the issue of being subject to your husband? Scripture mentions over and over about women being subject to their husbands. (1 Peter 3, Ephesians 5:33, Colossians 3:18) This is not meant to be degrading to women or make them less equal than men. It is simply God's way of organizing the home for the greater good. Remember in Genesis how Eve was a "helper" for Adam? I think women in the workplace run into this time after time. The boss wants longer hours, more work, etc. and all the while pulling more time away from husband and children. Now, she's not under authority and headship of her husband, she's under authority and headship of her boss. The government is a much larger entity than a just a corporation. Perhaps Sarah Palin is subject to her husband, but how can she be available to her husband when the country, government and the people will have to come first? This seems to me like a major conflict of interest. I don't think the question should be "Is she qualified to be the Vice Presidential candidate?" but, "Should she be the Vice Presidential candidate?"
I'm not trying to criticize her at all, or imply that she is a neglectful mother. She seems very in love with, and proud of, her family. But, this is far beyond just my opinion. God has already laid out clear plans for women in his Word. God's plan works, but we do all we can to go against it. We do all we can to scoff at God's desires for us, just to pursue our own. I will still vote McCain/Palin because I don't want the alternative, but I am not really comforable with being partly responsible for electing her to this position and pulling her away from her family. I think Sarah Palin would much better serve her country as vice president of her house, than vice president of the White House.

The First Day of School

We survived the first day of school-barely! We did manage to get quite a bit done today. Brittany will be doing independent work this year. Tyler will be doing independent work except for the second half of the year he will be doing history with Timothy and the little girls, and all year he will be doing science with them. So, my main focus this year will be on Timothy, Bethany, Brooke, and Tristan when he wants to be a part of it. They will be working on Bible, math, spelling, language arts, writing, history and science on Mondays through Thursdays, with Fridays reserved for all the kids to work together on Bible recitations, and art, music and poetry which we'll do on a three week rotation. Park day is Friday afternoons. However, since I don't have my spelling books yet, or Tyler's math book, and I have a few more small details to work out, because I didn't get everything done, I decided to do one of the five week long unit studies this week. We did the government/election unit I had planned. The other four units which I will disperse throughout the rest of the year will be: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Passover, and Economics.
Today was challenging. School is just flat out challenging with a toddler, which we seem to have had every other year for the past 7 years or so. Preschoolers are easy compared to a toddler, who has no concept of "don't crinkle that paper", don't eat that glue stick", "don't write all over yourself with the marker your sister left out". Sigh.
I have to be constantly right on Timothy (3rd grade) or he will not finish what he's doing. He gets so very distracted-constantly. I feel like part of it is that he is an 8 year old boy, and I take that into consideration, but he gets distracted on the way to brush his teeth thirty seconds after I've told him to go do it. If he were in public school he'd probably be on ritalin by now. He's very bright, and he's also very giggly, and silly. Hopefully we can work on the attention span and the silliness this year.
The only extra activity we are committed to right now is a book club, which only meets once a month. Our Spanish class sort of dissolved and we are on indefinate leave from Tae Kwon Do at this point. But, it certainly is nice to not have to run out, and that means lots of extra time to get plenty of stuff done at home. It is definately not a bad thing.

Monday Musings

I have not vanished off the face of the earth! I am feeling tons better. I don't have that "on the verge of throwing up feeling" anymore, and a great deal of energy and motivation has returned. I'm so thankful. I was just praying for the Lord to have mercy on me this time, and He did just that. It's so hard to care for the rest of the children, and husband, when you feel absolutely aweful for weeks on end. It's just sort of a depressing feeling when you wake up in the morning and all you want to do is just lay there all day, but you know you have to get up to get a million things done. All the while feeling like the few crackers you kept down will be on there way back up. I'm sooo glad to be feeling better!
Thomas apparently has his daddy right where he wants him. The other night David and I were having a late evening snack of Doritoes (which is rare for me, but I could sense that the baby really wanted some, so I had to eat them!) and David informed all of the other children, who are Doritoes' hogs, that they were not getting any. These were for him and me. So in walks Thomas (18 months), takes one look at the chips, gives his dad huge puppy dog eyes, and says, "Chips. Pweese. Pweese." I, of course, was not falling for this little scheme, but his daddy says, "Well, good grief, give him some chips already. He said please!" Uh, huh. Who has who wrapped around their little finger?

Monday Musings

Tristan, who's three, busted his lip on Friday evening. I was taking Brittany to a birthday sleepover at her best friend's house, and when I got back to the truck, noticed I had missed three calls. Normally, when I leave the house I have a twinge of panic that the house will catch on fire, or the baby will turn on the stove or any one of a host of other 911 situations that could occur. Now, of course, David was home, and, of course, I completely trust him and he is completely capable of caring for the kids. But, my controlling self always feels that when I leave, and things are now out of my control, something will happen. That's why I don't like sleeping while someone else is driving. I know that if I nod off, we will certainly go veering off into a river or jump the median into oncoming traffic. So, I call home, to find out that Tristan had jumped off the window (?) and hit the bed with his mouth, busting his lip at least 3/4 of an inch long, and possibly went through to the other side. Could I please stop and get some popsicles? After I got home, and his lip was yucky, we couldn't decide whether to take him in. It didn't seem necessary to go to the emergency room, but there's no where else open on Friday night. So, we opted to wait. Saturday, we began to doubt our decision to wait, and decided to take him to Doct'or's Care that morning. The doctor said he could put a stitch or two in, but it would be very traumatic (yeah!) and he'd probably be fine without it. So, basically we could've not taken him and been fine. You just never know with these things. Normally I hate just running to the doctor for every little thing, but I do remember my sister Alison getting stitches in her tongue after she cut it with a high chair seat belt. So, I guess it's better to be safe when in doubt.

Tristan says to me a few weeks ago, "I don't have anything to do. I'm boring."

One morning after Tristan was being naughty, I sent him to sit on his bed. After a few minutes he came down and said, "Mom, can I get up now? I forgive you."

One final cutie birthday boy

Today is Timothy's birthday. He is number three of seven. He is eight years old today. We are going to celebrate with a little party and he's having two friends sleep over. I'm not sure I'll survive! lol I'm not really feeling any better, but usually by week 15 or 16, I'm over the nausea. So, I've got around 6 weeks to go.

Timothy's birth story

I had a rough first trimester with Timothy, same as usual, nausea and exhaustion, but by second trimester I was feeling good. I worked out during the pregnancy and was in good shape, but my hips were killing me. From this baby on, my hip joints are always so sore. I also got a bladder infection (which I do with every pregnancy) but it went undetected because they didn't take urine samples at the OB visits, so finally when I was doubled over in pain, the lab tech assured me it was a kidney stone. I told him that I didn't think so, but finally some lab work revealed the problem. I also had to drink about 10 gallons of water and not go to the bathroom to have my ultrasound done. "You get more accurate readings this way" they said. "Yes, with your fifty year old equipment maybe" is what I was thinking. Who makes a pregnant woman drink gallons of water, and then mash on her abdomen for an hour, without letting her go to the bathroom? Are they insane? I wrote to the head of the hospital and told them I thought some of their procedures needed to change. She actually called me and was very concerned about my concerns. I don't know if they ever changed anything, though.

Anyway, I started contractions on my due date of 8/08/00 (Tuesday) The day just went on and they weren't getting any closer together. By the next day, they were stronger, but not closer-maybe 15 minutes apart. I went to the doctor for a regular appointment and he told me we could go on ahead over to the hospital and he would give me some pitocin and speed things along. I really didn't want to do that, so I told him to wait it out a little longer. I went ahead and served in the church nursery that night. So by the next day, the contractions were stronger still, but still not closer together. So, I went ahead to my Mom's church group. My mom had taken Brittany and Tyler for the week, so it was just David and me. We went to dinner on Thursday night and walked around and around and around down town Beaufort to see if that would make a difference. And, it did not. So, we decided that we would go ahead and go on in on Friday and get the pitocin.

We went in on Friday morning, and I couldn't stop crying. I just didn't want the pitocin. They admitted me at 9, started the pitocin and and I went ahead and got the epidural. I had been seen by Navy doctors at the Naval Station for my OB appointment, but they didn't deliver babies there, so I actually went to the civilian hospital to deliver with my Naval doctor. Of course, my epidural didn't take all the way, so my entire right side was still hurting. Then around 1:00 pm it was time to push. I don't remember pushing very long, but that could be because the epidural made me throw up several times, so that was the bulk of the pushing. The doctor said, "Wow, Ms. Sanchez! You have yourself a ten pound baby boy!" This same doctor assured me before birth that the baby was around 71/2 pounds. (If you've ever carried a ten pound baby, you know the difference!) He was actually 9 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches.

I recovered very well, Timothy was very healthy and all was happy. And this hospital had the best hospital food, ever. They even brought me a turkey sandwich, fruit and coconut cake just for my evening snack. Yum!

Yesterday was Brittany's 13th birthday. I am now officially the mother of a teenager! I'm not worried one bit. She's a pleasure to have around. She knows we've been so tight on money for a while, so all she asked for was to have pigs in a blanket for dinner, red velvet cake and for us to play a game together as a family. She has been such a blessing to us. She babysits when I need to run out, or just so David and I can go out together. And, she's even offered her babysitting money when we've needed it. I knew she'd been really wanting a digital camera and, for about the last year, I've been thinking how I really, really wished I could get her one for her birthday. So, I kept praying that God would provide some way for me to get one for her. A few weeks ago, someone gave us some extra money, and I took that as answer to prayer. We went out and got her the camera from Wal Mart, with a memory card and carrying case.

We had a book club meeting yesterday afternoon at a friend's house, who also let me bake the cupcakes in her oven, and then had the appliance drama (see the previous post) that evening, so we didn't actually get to "partying" until around 8 pm. She finally opened her gift and was in shock. She loved it! As I knew she would. She kept asking, "Is this a real camera?" "Is this for real?" I'm so thankful to be able to do that for her.

Brittany's birth story.
Hers was a surprise pregnancy in a whirlwind wedding. I turned 20 in June and she was due mid July. David and I had just gotten married the previous February, and I had just moved out to Hawaii in April. David was in the Marine Corps and this would be my first lovely and moving experience with military doctors. (Sarcasm is kind of hard to write.)

Anyway, I didn't KNOW nothin' bout birthing no babies. I think that one must give birth at least 3-4 times to really understand exactly what it going on. I think I just assumed everything would somehow just happen, and sort of likened myself to an innocent bystander. I read "What to Expect" and all, but nothing really wakes you up like actually having a baby.

I was due with her on the 16th of July, and starting the trend, that day came and went. On the 19th, in the early am, I started having contractions, but we decided that David should go on ahead to work. By that evening, we went to Labor and Delivery thinking that certainly things were happening now. They sent us home, because I wasn't far enough along, and there wasn't anything they could do. "What do you mean, nothing you can do???" We went back home and Brittany gave new meaning to the term "back labor". The next morning David went on in to work again, but came home later that morning with tonsilitis. I had an already-scheduled appointment at 2 pm, so David drove me in. The doctor discovered I was at 6 cm. and they rushed (wheelchaired) me upstairs to L and D. Hours later things still weren't progressing. They tried to break my water with this stick-thingy that must've existed in medieval torture chambers. Finally the other nurse had pity on me and told the other nurse to stop. I was quite exhausted. No sleep and no food going on 40 hours. I decided to get the epidural and of course, threw up, right as my pregnant friend and her husband showed up. She was due the next month with her first child. I must've have made quite a scary impression.

I eventually got to ten cm, and the nurse said to push, but I was so tired that I couldn't stay awake. And, she still was not coming out. So, the doctor decided, shortly after midnight to do a c-section . At 2:18 am, we had a Brittany. 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 17 and 3/4 inches. I had "failed to progress" because Brittany was sunny side up (babies are supposed to be face down with their spine facing up, but she was facing up with all her weight on my back-hence the back labor) and she was also crooked with her should trying to come out with her head.

David had opted not to come into the operating room. He was sick and more than a little overwhelmed. You know all the "risks" they let you know about with an epidural? There are even scarier "risks" they let you know all about with a cesarean. He must've been terrified.
So, they sliced me open, ripped out a human being, took out my insides and examined them, put them back in and stapled me shut. Literally. And, that's literally what I felt like had happened to me. Although, I was still numb from the epidural for a while after, they wheeled me to the recovery room for a few hours, then onto my own room. (I only got my own room because I had a c-section, I had to share a room when I had Tyler at the same military hospital) It must've been 4-6 hours before they even brought her to me for the first time. I don't know if they fed her, I don't know what happened. And, of course, I didn't know any better. The nurse came in that morning and wanted me to get up to take a shower. I thought she must be crazy. I had been in quite a bit of pain since the epidural had worn off. They gave me a morphine pump, but I was a little afraid of overdosing or something, so I don't think I ever really turned it up high enough. It would take me about 30 minutes just to get up and go to the bathroom and get back in bed. And of course, as soon as I would lay back down, Brittany would start crying.

The day before I was released, a student nurse came by to take out my staples. Well, I guess they have to practice on somebody. Ouch. I did heal fine, though, with no problems. I was so thankful for a healthy baby, but I knew that if I had another baby, I was NOT going through that again. Think VBAC.

Monday Musings

LIttle Thomas loves Alvin and the Chipmunks (the movie). He especially loves the song "Funkytown" that the chipmunks sing outside the window. He "asks" to hear it (he grunts "Uh, Uh") and point to the TV and loves to dance to it. I usually let him watch it in his crib before he takes a nap. So yesterday when I was getting him dressed for church, Tyler walked through the living room and went upstairs singing the "wah-ah-ah-ah-ah" to the beginning, and Thomas, naked, starts dancing and running upstairs thinking Tyler was putting on the movie for him. It was the funniest thing! He also says "Geeen Geeen" for the "Gotta get that green" song at the beginning. He's a mess!

Monday Musings

Conversations with a five year old:

Brooke (to her Dad): "I love you even when I'm naughty at you."

Brooke's conversation with me:
Brooke: I guess it will be good if we die because then we'll get to be with God in heaven.
Me: Yes, that will be good.
Brooke: Will we get to eat there?
Me: Yes, God is preparing a big feast for us.
Brooke: Will he give us presents?
Me: Yes, lots of presents.
Bethany: I know what I can give God! I can give God love.
Brooke: I can give God love, and a gift card!

Daufuskie Island

We went along with my husband to Daufuskie Island for the summer regional meeting for Edward Jones. We had an AWESOME time! We left on Thursday to drive down, it took about three hours. You have to catch the ferry over from Hilton Head Island, and the ferry ride lasts an hour. Well, we did not crash in with the sharks, nor did we have to wear our "life coats". Whew!

We finally got to the resort Thursday around two and checked in. We weren't sure what to expect because we didn't have any room information or anything, and when we got our room we were totally shocked. They had upgraded us to one of their new villas. It was amazing! There was a king sized bedroom with a huge bathroom and jacuzzi tub/seperate shower, another bedroom with 2 full beds, a fully stocked kitchen with washer/dryer and living room with large flat screen Tv and pull out sofa bed.

My dream bathroom.........

This is the view from the porch.

The Main resort house where we ate some of our meals.

We had a couple of meetings to go to the first night, and the kids went to the children's program. We had a nice catered dinner and afterwards the kids couldn't wait to get into the ocean.

A casualty.

Friday morning there was another meeting, we had a nice catered breakfast all three days and David wasn't done until noon, so we just hung out at the villa and enjoyed the beautiful golf course view from the screened in porch.

Friday afternoon we went down to the beach at low tide and found some nice shells, and stepped on quite a few Horse shoe crabs. Ouch! So, we went to swim in the pool instead. We had a nice Italian themed dinner that evening.
Saturday, David was in meetings til noon, so the kids and I went down to the beach again at high tide this time. That afternoon we decided to go do a little exploring in the golf carts we were provided. After we left the villa, it started to pour down rain. Our friend, who had gone exploring earlier, took us down some dirt trails. We were totally off roading and mudslinging in our little golf carts in the middle of the woods in the pouring rain. It was totally just like a scene right out of Jurassic Park, even down to the arrows on the posts to point the way. (It was the trails to the spa.) My older son was even in the back of the cart like the guy with the broken leg. It was hilarious. Our cart ran out of battery, so we had to call a shuttle to take us back. We had a blast.
That evening the kids had a pizza party and David and I went to the awards dinner. We had a nice surf and turf meal and David got a total of four awards. We have a really neat (and fun) bunch of folks in our region.
Sunday afternoon we had to get back on the ferry at 1:15, so the kids and I did some more golf cart exploring while David stayed behind with Thomas who was napping. We went back down the dirt trails, much less Jurassic-like when it wasn't raining. We stopped at another small beach to find some more shells. And I just loved this purple house. There were quite a few multi-million dollar homes, belonging to obviously the rich and famous. It would have been neat to find out exactly who.

"Jurassic Lane"

Hurry! Run!

On the return ferry....

On the ride home......

Some beachy treasures...