Blackforest Mama

Large Family Logistics

2011-09-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Just writing this post to tell of my love for the book Large Family Logistics by Kim Brennamen. It is changing my life. I have been totally changing the way this house gets run. For starters i have started getting up early. this is probably basic for most people but it has always been a struggle for me. I am able to see my husband for a few minutes before he leaves for work, read my Bible, start laundry, and have breakfast on the table when everyone gets up. this saves me from a lot of whining. Then I have been trying to take on the "days" method, where you designate a day each week to focus on a certain area. for me it's Monday-garden, Tuesday-laundry, Wednesday-office, Thursday-town, Friday-kitchen, Saturday-cleaning, Sunday-sabbath. so far this is working swimmingly! also i have started a deep cleaning rotation schedule. this seems to be so much more manageable than the elusive "spring cleaning" that never gets done in my house. it feels so good to get organized. i still have a long way to go but it's a start.
Canning is in full swing! I've already filled all of my quarts and i haven't even done applesauce yet. not being pregnant or nursing makes such a difference in my productivity. i have no excuse now.
homeschooling is in full swing and everyone seems to be enjoying it. but i would love some ideas on how to get a certain young man a little more motivated. (or a lot more motivated)
My Judah will be turning 4 next week! so here is a pic of his adorable self

homeschooling

2011-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Been trying to get ready for next school year. it's coming so quickly! I need to order curriculum but i really don't feel like buying it. we have been doing Singapore math and we really love it. because of it math has become one of my kids favorite subjects. we also like rod and staff readers. but other than that we stick with a Charlotte mason method. We will be loosely following the amblesideonline.org year 2 reading. We did year one last year and it was a lot of fun. Reading all the classic books is actually just as much fun for me as it is for them. I also need preschool ideas to keep Judah busy. he loves activities. we will also be involved in home school co-op, soccer, and the twins will hopefully start music lessons. it should be a very exciting semester.

It really is nice having a summer break to help me realize how much i love homeschooling. it can be really hard and i have had many times when i felt like i wanted to give up but it really is so rewarding to see the kids learning and loving it.

so maybe i should go to bed but i feel like i have been getting so much done by staying up late at night. like right now. i actually posted twice tonight, cleaned the whole kitchen, sorted my sewing stuff, and scrubbed the tub. and it's only 10:45! imagine what i could accomplish in another 2 hours.

canning!

2011-07-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

woke up this morning and realized that i have so much canning to do! right now. peaches, dilly beans, pickles, and jams. and that's only this month! i do love summer and canning but it all comes down on me so fast.
Just received a 5 gallon bucket of green beans from my wonderful friends at 3 stones farm. So that means dilly beans tomorrow. or to sound cool "lacto-fermented green beans" ! So it feels good to finally get going on some canning. If i can get the van to the shop and keep the kids happy that is.
My kids always seem restless when we don't have a van. it's like they know we don't have the option of going anywhere and it drives them nuts. every day like this i realize how much more patience and love i need. it's just not in me. but i know God can supply it and He does. this is good work i am doing and he always gives me what i need to do it. sometimes i just need to ask.
Josh has been working his tail off lately trying to get the chicken coop done before these chickens start laying! He's an incredible husband.

trying to make a comeback

2011-07-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

well i am trying to get back at this. i won't waste time by catching up on the past year and a half i'll just try to jump right in! (or it won't happen) Summer is proving to be much more trying than i thought it would. i waited so hopefully all winter and then it comes and brings the unexpected, lyme disease! something i didn't think people ever really got. now half of our family has it(including myself) and i am just trying not to worry myself to death. Fear has really been the worst. can it be chronic? will the meds really take care of it? how will i know if the babies get it? It's not good. i know i need to trust and it has been a constant struggle. I have prayed and demanded God to heal! now i see that i need to be patient and learn what i can through this experience. anyway this has been a huge part of our summer.
our 14 wonderful chickens are growing nicely and hopefully we will get a coop built soon. i need to get a camera so i can post pics! until then you can just imagine 12 very cute hens and 2 lovely cockerels!

the babies are here!

2010-03-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

well they are here as i'm sure most of you already know. it's been a crazy but wonderful 2 weeks. new babies are such an amazing blessing. i've been trying to enjoy every moment of this time. we waited and worried and prayed for months and now they are here and all we hoped for has come. As i was up last night trying to get the babies to sleep i was struck by how precious these babies are. And i felt so encouraged by how God has brought them to us and also has given us everything we need to care for them and to help them thrive. I don't need to just "get through" these next few months but we can truly enjoy them. God really has all we need. It really has been amazing seeing God work through the pregnancy and He hasn't stopped now that they are here. we've had a few tough times and i have really worried that i may not be able to do this. Every time i get to that point and i start to pray God shows me a way or causes both babies to fall asleep so i can get some rest. It really seems to be immediate answers! He is being very merciful to me in this time.

Josh went back to work wednsday and i have to say i was very worried but it has been very good. Thursday the babies must have been having a growth spurt b/c they were nursing non-stop. I only got off the couch to feed the other children and go to the bathroom. it wasn't easy but i was able to get through without feeling completly discouraged and God had mercy on me that evening when i was able to have a really great night of sleep. There have been so many examples of God's love and mercy during this time.
I am so thankful for all of this and am so glad for where God has brought me. this isn't a life i would have chosen for myself but it's way better than anything i could have imagined.
on a side note, where is the spell check around here? i could really use that. sorry about the horrible punctuation, spelling, and capitalization.

Baby time's a comin!

2010-03-07T01:49:00.000-08:00

Well it has been an interesting few days. Friday had a Dr. appointment and we were told our little girl isn't growing anymore. she has been at about 6lbs. for several weeks now. this was pretty worrisome to us. the dr. said she isn't in any distress but that it may be better to get them out sooner than later. Our son is having no problems and measuring in at over 8lbs! So the midwife came in and stripped my membranes in hopes of getting my labor started. this is not something i would want done again. OUCH! then they sent me home with an appointment for monday so we can make a plan to get these babies out. This was all very stressful for me especially because i had to be there alone. So now I am home waiting for labor to start and we have had nothing yet. My babies don't want to come out yet. It's so funny how we wanted so much for them to stay in and now they can't get out fast enough! So then on top of it all I have a nasty cold that is wiping me out! So josh worked a half day sat and I was able to sleep all day. which is why it's 4:45 Am and i can't sleep. I am definetly feeling better and just trying not to be anxious about the babies. But thinking about it definetly is keeping me up.
I am very thankful though for all God has done through this pregnancy. He has been so faithful in answering our prayers in a very real way. continuing to remind myself this is the best thing for me. can't wait to meet these little ones.

Time is ticking away

2010-02-06T10:44:00.000-08:00

                 Sometimes when i'm pregnant it seems like it will never end but this time seems like it is going by way too fast. We are definetly prepared as much as you can be. Sometimes I don't think it has really sunk in for us yet. We are getting ready to welcome 2 babies into our house, again. Whenever I have the time to think about it I go through a myriad of emotions. A little scared. Or I guess just worried that i may not be able to handle it all. Excited! Excited that i have been blessed with these babies . But then when I stop I mostly feel at peace about it and looking forward to what is to come.
                I am almost 34 weeks and thats as far as I made it with the first twins. I am praying to make it even one more week past that (hopefully more). but either way the babies will be here very soon. I can't wait to meet them. And of course the other children are so excited too.
               I'm starting to feel HUGE! i mean it this is not just me having low self-esteem or something, i am huge! her is a fun Photo to prove it to you!

Yep and that was over 2 weeks ago! I'm even bigger now! scares me just a little to see how big i can get. oh well this is all such a fun adventure.

Having a choice

2010-01-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

God is so good to us. He takes care of things even when i have given up. So anyway the Dr. i was seeing told me there wwas no way they would ever let me try a VBAC for this pregnancy and I would need to plan my C-section. They even said that if i refused a C-section they would have to call there laywers and have them present for the birth. So basically my choice in the matter was completly taken from me. Josh and I were pretty unhappy about it but we felt God wanted us to submit and give it over to HIm. So we did, I even called to schedule my C-section trusting that this was the best thing for us. then out of the blue on wednesday last week i ended up talking to my midwife (who was going to do the homebirth before we knew we were having twins) she was not happy and said that she had some ideas and i should keep trying to find a better alternative. So she called a few Dr's and they were all booked. then the last Dr on the list i called and he asked to see me about an hour later. so the kid's and i headed down to elmira which is about 45 minutes away. and soon i was talking with this wonderful dr. who said he would be happy to let me try a VBAC. to me this was like a miracle. something we never thought possible. So we quickly changed Dr.'s that day! to me it's just an amazing provision from God that we really didn't expect. So we will see how things go. I may still have to have a C-section but atleast i know i have a choice and that has not been taken away from me!
So we are getting more excited by the minute to meet Ephraim and Vashti. I love them so much all ready and feel hugely blessed to be able to carry twins again!
32 weeks wed! I'm thinking about 6-7 weeks and they will be here! wow.

oops forgot a few things

2010-01-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

I hit enter before i was done so today you all get 2 posts! lucky! So pregnancy is going pretty well. actually i am feeling pretty blessed to have things go so well. The dr.'s love to tell you all the worse case scenarios but God can do anything and He has shown Himself to my so much through this pregnancy. I'm actually getting pretty excited to meet these little ones and it won't be much longer.

here is a pregnancy picture at 26 weeks i think i'll try to post a newer one because i am much bigger now! Things are really good and i have been trying to get some sewing done now because i know i won't have much time later. I just sewed several pairs of our favorite fleece yoga pants from this pattern : http://littlecomettails.kingstondesign.com/

very fun and easy pattern to sew. They work great as diaper covers or really comfy, warm baby pants. Judah love them so much. He is potty-trained now but he still wears them everyday!

Also very excited about doug and Leah's new blog http://commonwings.blogspot.com/

I think it is great so if you are reading this you should get over there right away!

Where has the time gone?

2010-01-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

so It's been almost 2 years since i've blogged. i actually forgot my password and how to get to my own blog. So i am going to try this again. I won't go over the past 2 wonderful years that might get kind of boring for you all. anyway here i am 8 months pregnant with twins. I'm thinking i will just write about life and hope it's not too boring.

PAPA festival

2008-06-24T15:29:00.001-07:00

Well we made it back from papa fest and it was great! we drove through the night 13 hours which worked out OK but we were all pretty tired by the time we got there. We set up and then we were moving! workshops for us and the kids. The video is of Lillian drumming in the west African drumming workshop. what a cutie! There were bands and dancing. so much fun. the best part of the weekend was the people. It was so incredible to meet so many people on the same page as us. sometimes we feel like we are alone but these guys knew what was up. I always expect(as do most people) that people that look crazy must have some crazy doctrines but they were all so grounded and crazy about Jesus. It's so refreshing to meet people that don't fit the normal conservative christian mold. Christians can be pacifists, environmentalists, anarchists, and activists. They don't all have to be Republicans that are supporting the war in Iraq. We had some great discussions about community too. We are really feeling God moving us in that direction and it really seems like something is going to happen! It was great hearing from some of the more established communities and how it works for them. We are just so excited about what God is doing.

PAPA fest was held on a Mennonite community farm and it was so neat! The way they live is really beautiful. seeing how life could be made it really hard for Josh to head back to Kionix today! Then when he got to work he found out that they are moving to 12 hour days and that does not make him very happy at all! So we really need to pray.

The trip home took us a little longer (16 hours) but we made it and the kids did an incredible Job. so that is that. It was great just like i knew It would be. I also took a dread lock workshop so we will see where that leads :) ?

night invaders!

2008-06-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a few new pics of my cuties! I can't believe how big Judah is getting!

We had a very interesting experience a few nights ago. The whole fam was sleeping when we hear some serious raucous coming from the kitchen. So i send josh down to investigate. he come down the stairs just in time to see 2 huge raccoons jump out the window. They had actually popped out the screen! They completely trashed my kitchen! It looked like someone had looted the place. food and dishes were everywhere! I was pretty mad. They ate my fresh baked bread, a huge bunch of bananas, several onions, garlic, and a huge bag of bird seed that they also scattered all over the place. I was about ready to hunt those little punks down! It took me a really long time to clean all of the footprints off the walls. Anyway we will now be locking all of our windows every night, no matter how hot it is!

Our house is gearing up for our big family trip to Chicago for PAPA festival! WOOHOO! I'm excited (mostly). I'm really looking forward to the festival but not so much the trip. It's going to take us about 12 hours! So that should be interesting. rather than me explain what PAPA fest is feel free to peruse the web site: papafestival.org

SUMMER!

2008-06-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

I can not express the joy i feel over summer finally being here! today it was like 80 degrees! in upstate NY you have to take advantage of every nice day b/c before you know it they are gone!

we had a great trip to Pittsburgh to visit Megan. we went to the zoo and the kids loved it (mostly) Naomi was visibly shaking when she saw the lions and tigers but otherwise all was well. Judah was mesmerized by the jellyfish! figures. You pay all that money and your kids favorite part is something you can see dead on the beach for free! oh well. it was really good to get away.

it's crazy how expensive things are getting around here. 20 bucks gets us nothing! I try to never worry about money but the way things are going we may have to start. food prices are killing us! not literally of course, we are fine. I can only imagine what this is doing to people in third world countries. but anyway all of this is just pushing me to live more simply. I've started making all of our own bread. I figure if my meme could do it for 12 kids I can do it for 4. It's been going really well and it's a lot easier than i thought. a great place to start is the no-knead crusty bread recipe. You can find it at motherearthnews.com . it is so easy and seriously the best bread ever! also I've started buying in bulk. this eliminates too many trips to the store and is way cheaper. the catch is that you have to really plan and actually cook everything from scratch! i really don't know how those ladies did it back in the day! but it seems like even with all that we still are just scratching by. so what it comes down to is trusting God. the USA may not always be such a prosperous nation but God will still take care of us.

The picture I posted is onr that Josh drew for the Ithaca Pregnancy center. I love it so i just wanted to share it with all you guys!

Moving mayhem!

2008-05-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

well here I am finally blogging again! I think two solid months of no posts is long enough. well we moved and i am so glad it is over! I don't even fell like writing about it. we are settled and the new place is gorgeous! enough said.

we are so excited for the nice weather. it's been in the 70's and 80's and i am lovin it! So much has been going on. Naomi just had her third birthday! it was so fun. we had a hot dog party. All she wanted for her party were hot dogs and her own bag of chips. it's nice that she is so easy to please i hope it stays that way. I can't believe she is already three. then we had Judah's dedication last week. It went well. he didn't even scream. yeah baby Judah!

I haven't been crafting, sewing, or really cooking at all! I'm sad and I really need to get going on that. here is a pic of the last thing I made. aprons for the girls. I'm pretty proud of them i think they are my best sewing yet. So of course i want to show them off.

And that just a cute picture of baby Judah for fun. WE are getting for excited for planting time! we already planted some flowers this week but the veggies go in next week. yippee! I so glad it's time for all that fresh produce again. The kids are going to have their own garden here at the house and then we will be having a community garden at the farm down the road. I love this time of the year. I'm just so glad we are all moved in so we can enjoy it. I guess that's all for now. hopefully it won't be another 2 months until i post again.

bored kids

2008-03-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

I was reading an interesting article today about turning off your TV and just letting your kids be bored. There was a recent report on NPR about how kids are no longer using imaginative play. We don't do TV. we don't even have one in the house. we watch the occasional DVD on the computer but that's it. I often leave my children to just play alone. I don't spend the majority of the day entertaining them and most of the time the results are pretty good. They make up tons of stories. They play church, doctor, have a concert, mommy and daddy, animals, and a ton more. sometimes i feel bad about not having enough activities for them to do but now i feel a lot better because what i knew has been confirmed.
of course they still love TV and when we are at friends houses they can't get enough. Even so they are really good at home most of the time. I've had people ask me, "what do you do with them all day?" I never really knew what to say because the true answer always sounded so lame, "oh nothing."
I don't want to make it sound like i do nothing with my kids because i do. We do art projects a few times a week, read books, go out, but the majority of their time is spent on imaginative play all on there own.
My kids are very young so i know this may get harder as they get older but i think starting now is a great start.
Thinking back my mother really didn't entertain us and we had some great time just playing together (brothers and I) we would create a whole other world in our back yard.

MARCH

2008-03-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

i think march has to be my least favorite month. So dull, so dreary, so long. I think i just need to think of things to do. right now i am sewing aprons for the girls, which is fun but I'm having trouble staying motivated with the project. I do a little then i feel like just putting it away. the kids are super restless. They seem to constantly be at each others throats. So we do little projects and that's fun but they really want to get outside. I would let them go out and play in the snow but it is so rainy and icy that its not really worth it. So we will make it at least until we are able to buy a van. Last week some great friends of ours went to FL. and let us borrow their van. It was great but really a tease. we were out everyday so now i think it's a little harder to get back into things.

If anyone out there has any fun ideas for keeping busy I'd love to hear them.

the above picture is Judah at 5 months. He is such a cutie! He is almost crawling! I can't believe it. He's been so fussy lately and just on sun. 2 teeth came through so he seems much better now. One thing i am so thankful for is that all our family is so healthy and has been all winter! we've had a little diarea and maybe 1 fever but over all its been great. I am truly thankful for this b/c last year we were sick for months ans it is so draining.

Fri night the kiddos are going to grandma's house and josh and i are going to have a sat. morning date! yippee! I am so excited for this. we really need it. We haven't even had a chance to go out for our anniversary yet. We celebrated 5 years on the 22nd of Feb! I still can't believe it. It seems like forever b/c i hardly remember life without Josh, he is such a part of me. I am so thankful to have found him and i just feel like bragging about him a little so if you don't want to hear it please feel free to skip this part. Josh is wonderful! He thinks about me and what i need even more than i do (if that's possible) he gets up at night (many times) with the kids. He still makes me mixed Cd's like when we were dating (only they were cassettes then and usually hardcore/metal). He thinks i am very hot even though i still have quite a few baby pounds to lose. He doesn't care if i don't get anything done around the house. He never goes a day without telling me how much he loves me. There is more but I'll stop for now. I love that man. So I'm going to try to think of something fun for us to do sat. can't wait!

keepin busy

2008-02-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

Winter is getting long! And not having a car is really causing us to get creative(which is good). we have been getting ready for valentines day which i totally didn't realize is next week! so we made this fun heart branch. The kids loved glueing the scraps of paper together. You can find the directions for this project over at kidscraftweekly.com It is a great site with lots of great ideas to get you through the winter.
And here is some fun play time. I just had the kids gather up their cars and then i dumped some cornmeal on the table. This lasted for about an hour! It was great. Judah napped and i was able to finish dinner before 7pm! After they were done I just brushed it into a ziplock until next time. They did get quite a bit on the carpet but it vaccuumed up pretty easily.
This is my first attempt at making a doll. It's pretty good i think but it definetly needs improvement. I gave it to a friend who just had a baby girl. You can find the free pattern for this doll at http://oneredrobin.com It was fun but i think i'd like it to be a little bigger. Doing small things is good for me though it seems to really help my sewing skills that are pretty much non-exsistent!

This was a fun project too but it didn't involve the kids as much as i'd like. You melt crayon shavings between wax paper then cut out hearts. you can find the full instructions at marthastewart.com

Wegmans

2008-02-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

i do love wegmans, i really do but today i felt like i was going to lose it. People were nuts in there and so rude. I dropped the 2 older kids off in the kids place (which is wonderful) so it was just judah, naomi, and I. Judah promptly fell asleep and naomi was eager to help mommy. So she would pick someting up of a shelf and if it took her just a little too long people would be rolling their eyes and huffing at us. It was really annoying. Come on people she is 2 years old and trying really hard! it took forever to navigate the place we couldn't even get close to the cheese aisle. I guess i should know better than to shop on a saturday before the superbowl but it seems to the only day that works since i don't have a vehicle any other time.

oh well enough about that. i hate to complain.

Here is my cutie naomi skating with Daddy. she does pretty well for 2. the kids are loving skating. this was only their second time going and they love it. The girls are constantly asking to watch figure skating videos on youtube. I remember loving figure skating at that age. I find it pretty boring now but it's still fun to see how much they love it.

80's time!

2008-01-30T12:54:00.001-08:00

well here they are! MY ladies look super cool in their leg warmers! They put them on as soon as they got up this morning. I doubt Naomi will always wear them with leopard print footies but i think it's a good look! I also made fun little pom-pom hair ties out of the sweater scraps. I love old sweaters!
We went for a really fun walk in the woods today. Josh and i always talk about going and today we finally did. Josh decided to turn it into an adventure so he decided we all needed explorer names. we picked Russian names for most of the kids but Lillian named herself Tree Arc. It was so cute. I really wonder where she comes up with this stuff. As a little background our family loves to make up new names for every occasion. we have our Native American names, our hillbilly names, and a ton more. Josh has the amazing ability of remembering all of them.

I'm just waiting and hoping for my Warm Fuzzies book to get here! my son needs that robot vest!
I'm also hoping to start an actual knitting project! my first one ever! so I'll keep you all posted on that. I like writing that down b/c i feel like it keeps me accountable (to myself i guess b/c i doubt anyone will ever read this blog!)

blogging!

2008-01-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

well here i am, following the trend and starting my own blog. I guess i thought it might be fun to share my life with whoever might be interested. So many blogs inspire me so much so maybe our life could inspire someone too or at least make them laugh (at me of course)

most likely this will include a lot of crafting! and if I' m lucky Josh will let me share some of his great creations with you all!
So lets just jump right in!

here is a pic of some little people i made for the kids for Christmas:

I made them from these little wooden bowling pins i found at A.C. Moore and then of course felt. they were really fun to make and the kids are still playing with them! that's pretty good. my favorite is the little bearded man because he looks like josh and the kids love that!

I guess I should rename this post Christmas show-off! but i have to show these things off somehow. Josh and I worked our butts off and it was worth it to have our first handmade Christmas! It was so fun working together. the walrus was a Josh design and i just stitched it and stuffed it! This was for Elijah. All the kids got one but i still need to take pictures of those ones. (an owl, a whale, and a bird) So i guess I need to get taking more pictures!

These are silks i dyed with kool-aid. I found the tutorial on another blog and if anyone wants the link i believe i could find it. this were tons of fun and relatively cheap compared to buying them full price. I actually love playing dress-up with these. the kids and i will just walk around the house all day with one of these tied around our waist or head. it just feel FANCY!

Right now i am making leg warmers for the girls out of sweater sleeves! (I know sooo challenging!) but they are so excited and they will look so cute wearing them ice skating!

2008-01-29T19:16:00.000-08:00