How Do You Do It?

I have been answering the phones at VP for about 10 hours a week the last few weeks. I love talking with other home-schoolers and answering curriculum questions and such. A lot of time the conversation gets around to my having 5 children and I of course, get the question, "How do you do it?" There is really not a good answer. I believe it is a life style, maybe? If you know my husband, then you know his standard for our children's education is high. I am good with that and do not differ in my standard, but it helps that he is there to hold me accountable. With him there are no excuses. We just have to do it. When we first started home-schooling 6 years ago, I had this vision of making it very school like,I would be organized enough and it would all get done. After all, I had done it for a few years in school classrooms, so it would be the same at home. Honestly, it worked fine with the two children I had back then. Then, Bruce became employed at Veritas Academy. We put the older two in and life was grand. However, I very quickly missed my children and realized that for one in particular, it was not working. So, then we went back to home-schooling. Well, this time around, with 5 in tow, it's quite different. We do have an organized time to do school, I believe that is important, but there is not time to get in the extras (art projects, copy work, supplements, extra help in areas when it is just not clicking). There is just not time between diaper changes, feedings, chasing toddlers, breaking up sibling rivalry, laundry for 7, cooking, chores, music lessons, extra curricula activities, etc. Now we have the added extra of trying to stay quiet while daddy teaches. I know I am not saying anything new to anyone. Some of you have more on your plate than I and you are doing a much better job at getting it done than I am. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to start a little series on getting it done and hopefully, you all will chime in and give me some creative ideas at surviving while holding a high standard. We have worked hard to develop a lifestyle which is conducive to getting it all in, as I am sure you have too. I thought it would be fun to share our ideas. I must also confess I am doing a seminar on this in a few weeks and I would like to share several ideas. Everyone does not live in my home, therefore my ideas may not work for some people. I'd like to go with a list of ideas from multiple homes. So, tomorrow I will post my first post. It will be on why I think it is important to keep that standard high. We must first realize why we are doing what we do to be successful at it. Be thinking about it. I am excited to get your feedback.

Menu Ideas

I need menu ideas. I also need to be more diligent at making our weekly menus. The more children we have acquired, I have found it more difficult to get dinner on the table if I did not have a well thought out plan. Too often I am getting to the afternoon with nothing planned, so we call in pizza. My husband told the children recently that he would actually throw up if he had to eat pizza one more time. I think that was the hint for me to get it together. Therefore, I am going to start posting a weekly menu. I know you could probably care less, but it will make me think through things at the beginning of the week. So, I am going to start with this week and we will see how long it lasts.

Monday Spaghetti and Salad
Tuesday Pizza (Oops! I didn't have a plan.)
Wednesday Grilled Pork Chops/Creamed Peas and Potatoes
Thursday Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken/Salad/Asparagus
Friday Date Night!!!
SaturdaySabbath Dinner Smoked Whole Chicken/Crash Hot Potatoes/Grilled Vegetables/Ice Cream with Raspberry Sauce

Micah's Baptism

I just realized I had not posted about a very special event that took place a few weeks ago. It happened in the midst of all of our chaos. Micah was baptized and to make it even more special his birth mother was able to join us. It was really a great time. I can not wait for the day when we can explain this all to him. I hope he will appreciate the miracle in it all. The baptism was great and we all cried. Afterwards, we had a luau with just a a couple of families and those who came from Hawaii. They were so generous. They flew in the main foods for a traditional luau. Here in the mainland we just can't do the pork justice. It was sooo good. I tried to copy a couple of traditional recipes. I think they were good. I am not sure how traditional they tasted, though. I did make a haupia pie. It turned out well. Anyway, it was a great day. We had a lot of fun.

New Favorite Snack

We have a new favorite snack around here. It is Island Way Sorbet. I bought it a few weeks ago for our luau. I usually do not like sorbet, but tried this one day when I was craving something fruity. It is REALLY good. I get them from Costco.

Happy Belated Birthday, Isaac

Isaac celebrated the big 10 on Wednesday. We were in the midst of a stomach bug, therefore I was short on blogging time. Thankfully, the day before his father took Isaac and a couple of friends to play laser tag to celebrate. We decided to post-pone the traditional dinner until everyone was better. So, tonight we will combine Father's Day and his birthday. We will feast on ribs (they are already in the smoker), cornbread salad, a garden salad (made with fresh lettuce from my very small garden), and killer cookies.

This actually marks the 8 year anniversary of Isaac coming to live with us. He moved in 2 days before his 2nd b-day. Man, life is different from then.Yikes! That means he has lived with us for the same amount of time we have left with him. I can not believe in 8 short years he will begin his transition into adult life. He still has this great smile and likable personality. He is so helpful with his younger siblings. I do not thank him enough. Happy Birthday!! We love you and are so happy God sent you to us.

Adoption #4

I have posted some pretty dreary realities on adoption. I wanted to end this small series with a positive post. Bruce and I are often asked by people who are thinking of adopting, "Do you love that child just like you do your biological children?" I know it may seem like an ignorant question, but it is not meant to be so negative. People are really afraid of bringing a child into their homes and not loving them right away. And sometimes it does take time to develop a bond. But my answer is always YES. I always thought that maybe it was because Isaac was our first and I had nothing to compare it with. On my first visit with him, he sat in my lap and called me Mommy. He screamed and clung to me when it was time for me to leave. To leave him that day was the most painful thing I had ever had to do. I now know that the fact that he so quickly called me mommy after leaving his mother was a huge red flag for attachment problems, but I just saw it as him wanting to be with me. Even though that flag was there and we have had things to deal with, Isaac has certainly attached and bonded with us. I attribute that to God and the fact that we are very open in our home. He is always allowed to speak his true feelings to us and we work really hard at just listening, affirming his thoughts, and loving him through it. Our only rule is he must tell us in a respectful tone. We were getting no where when we allowed him to yell and scream his disdain at being adopted. We had a revelation one day that we would never allow our biological children to speak to us in a disrespectful way and didn't he want to be treated the same? Holding him responsible in that way, and showing him that we saw him in the same light as his siblings seemed to be somewhat of a turning point. I am digressing, but I thought that may be helpful to someone going through this. Anyway, back to Isaac being my first. I realized that theory was not true the first time I held Micah at the hospital in Hawaii. As soon as I cuddled him in my arms I knew he was mine. I had wondered how awkward it would be. I did not know who would hand him to me and when I realized it would be the birth mother I was so nervous for her. Inside I was a basket case. I think I hid it well. I wanted to be strong for her. Now I realize she is stronger than I will ever be. She was so great and there was no awkwardness. I remember her saying with a huge smile, "Here is your Mommy." I knew he was mine, but I love the fact that I share this bond with her. So, as I write this with tears and am barely able to see the screen, yes, I love my adopted children just like my biological children. We have never regretted the decision we made to adopt. There are unknowns in the adoption we are going through now, but there are two things i try to remember. 1. There are never any guarantees in life. Any of my children could be taken from me at any moment, therefore we need to cherish every second. 2. I believe in a sovereign God. If in the end it does not work out the way we hope, God knew all along. He meant for Micah to be a part of our lives for the time we have him. Just so you know, there is an unknown, but everyone thinks the chances are slim that we would lose him. We just can not completely rest until it is done.

Our experiences have been such great pictures of God's grace and His sovereign control in our lives. You really have no control over what happens. In the end, the good, the bad, the ugly, it is all just beautiful. We are in the palm of God's plan. You see, it is one thing for God to create your child in your womb. Yes, it is miraculous and I am not down playing that. But, when I look at all that is orchestrated in an adoption, it really is just beautiful. To think He has that child picked out for you. Out of all of the children in the world it is that one. And the path that He takes you down is sometimes hard and frightening, but still beautiful. One day I want to tell our stories in more detail and you will know what I mean. Bruce and I have agreed until this is final to not do that, but soon. In the mean time know that I love my children and the path God has taken us down. Isaac's huge smile and the fact that he still loves to cuddle me at 10, still melts my heart. I love, love, love that Micah loves to sleep in my arms. He is so beautiful and already has this really deep, fun belly laugh that makes us all giggle. We are just really thrilled with the family God has given us.

It is Too Hot!

On Saturday we started to question if the AC was working or not. By Sunday it clearly was not. On Monday we called and they said they would come sometime between Monday and Thursday. If we miss the call the skip us and put us to the end of the list. Therefore, we have been homebound without AC. You may say, "Well, it is June in PA. How bad can it really be? Besides, the Amish do it." Well, we are in a heatwave. It has been between 95 and 100, with heat indexes higher than that, the last few days. This is unheard of this time of year. We are hot! I feel the worst for Micah. He sweats like crazy anyway. The poor guy is soaking all of the time. Thankfully, the AC guy just called. Hopefully he can fix it without coming back.