Fall!

Things are changing here in south Georgia...

Which is really unusual for our neck of the woods.

I usually don't have to put away my beloved sandals

until the end of October.

So this whole chilly September thing in bizarre.

Not that I'm complaining.

This is my FAVORITE type of weather.

Slightly overcast with a bit of a chill in the air.

*insert contented sigh here*

We celebrated the first day of fall with a family walk.

There was frolicking...

Leaf throwing...

Even a little family acrobats...

I sure do love spending everyday with this bunch.

How are you enjoying fall? Pumpkin Spice Latte, anyone? Bonfires? Cozy Socks?

Back at it

It's that time of year again.

Our school books all organized. (How long will that last??)

(Do I detect a bit of a pout in that lip??)

Summer was fun.

But I have to admit, getting back into a routine is nice.

This year I have a 2nd grader, 1st grader, and Preschooler.

So life will be...busy!

Anyone else out there gearing up to start school again? Do you wish summer was just a little longer or are you as eager as I am to get started again?

Country Lovin'

Have I mentioned how much I love living in the country?

Zinnias

Just outside of our small town we have this really amazing produce shop. It is run by one farm and they have pretty much anything you could want there. Watermelon, peas, squash, and of course, peaches (this is Georgia afterall!) and that is only fraction. They sell hand-painted birdhouses, canned and baked good. They even have a little place where you can buy homemade peach ice cream. It's wonderful. One of my favorite things is that every year they plant a huge field just full of zinnia's and sunflowers. You can come and pick your own for only 10 cents a stem.

Well, me and my flower-loving daughter (Lilly- appropriately named) are taking full advantage of this!

One thing that we didn't take into consideration, this field was mud-dy. We were planning to go all the way to the back corner because nobody ever trudges all the way back there. We got about halfway out there and realized our feet were caked with mud.

We decided to get our flowers from where we were and then sat down under one of the pecan trees and tried to de-mud ourselves before we went tromping into the store to pay.

We didn't do too well.

But we got enough flowers to fill up 2 vases and it only cost us...

$1.60!

And, believe it or not, they were used to the mud. :)

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having fresh flowers in the house?

Day 11 {Something Blue}

Earlier this year I bought some new bedding for our bed. We had had our old bedding since we were married. It was stained from having lived through 4 babies. It had holes in it. In fact, on several occasions we would get into bed at night only to find one of the children had stuffed some kind of toy down one of the holes and we would spend the next 15 minutes trying to fish it out. We couldn't find a matching sheet set in our collection for anything. Normally, these types of things don't really bother me. But since my kiddos aren't little babies anymore, John and my room has become, well, more our's not everyone's. Moms, you know what I'm saying, right?

I wanted to do something special to mark this big occasion! John could care less about bedding and decorating in general, but he was kind and humored his little wife. He gave me a budget and I set to work! It had to be a good deal, it had to be something that both John and I liked (he actually did have opinions about it once I started showing him stuff), and it had to be comfortable.

All this to say, I'm really pleased with our bedding. It's bright and happy, I love curling up in bed at night, and I was under budget! Yay!

Anyone else out there get excited about new bedding? Or am I alone?? :)

Day in the life

I had another really sweet reader email me and say:

"I'd love to hear about a day in the life of your family. How you do things, what you do...you know, things like that! I love to hear how others do things and glean info! :-) "

I have loved when I've seen this on other people's blogs. It's so fun to get a glimpse into someone else's life! So, yesterday I recorded everything I did and snapped a couple pictures throughout my day. I didn't really pay attention to the time or how long certain things took me. I just wrote them out in an order-of-events kind of way. Here's my day:

-I woke up with a headache (ALLERGIES!) so I crawled out of bed and took some medicine.

-John was kind enough to fix breakfast for the children while I waited for my medicine to kick in.

-Got up and dressed

-Got everyone dressed

-Put on a load of laundry

-Picked up the living room

-Sorted clean laundry that had been sitting in baskets for...ahem...awhile.

-Math w/ Lilly (while the boys put away all of the laundry that went into drawers)

-Snack time for the children while I read them their Bible lesson.

-Reading w/ Lilly

-The children put the rest of the laundry on hangers while I fixed lunch.

-lunch

-The children and I went out in the garden to water/weed. (Yes, weeds are overtaking my garden!)

-Language Arts w/ Lilly.

-Science w/ Lilly.

-Social Studies w/ Lilly.

-Reading w/ Luke.

-Snack time for the children while I had about 1/2 hour or so of Mommy time.

-Washed dishes.

-The older children went outside to play. Kate and I read some books together and then she looked at books while I snuck in some time in the Word.

-Picked up around the house.

-Started on dinner.

-At this point in time my allergies were bothering me again so I went to rest for about 20 minutes.

-Washed more dishes with Lilly and Brad.

-Finished dinner preparations.

-Dinner.

-Dinner clean up.

-Enjoyed some family time!

-Read a chapter out of "By the Shores of Silver Lake".

-Got everyone in their jammies.

-Surprised the children with a "Jammie drive". This is something John and his family used to do when he was young. All the children would get into their jammies and then go on a family drive right before bed. I guarantee the children think this is SO fun. They get excited every time!

-Family prayers/put the children to bed.

-Time to myself!

-Sleep.

That's the Washburn's day in a nutshell! For the most part our days look the same. We spend most of our time at home since school work consumes a lot of our day. But we will occasionally make a trip to the library, the park, or run errands. Our time after dinner usually changes every night. Sometimes we need to run errands or someone drops by for a visit. We might have family devotions before bed or John might take the older children on a bike ride. We just enjoy being together as a family!

Time after the children go to bed is usually different every night too. I might catch up on some emails, write a blog post, read a book, John and I might play Scrabble or chat. I usually try to get most of my work done before dinner so that my evening is free, but once in a while I might have some sewing that needs to be done or need to get breakfast ready for the next morning.

I LOVE being a homemaker. I feel absolutely blessed to be able to invest my time in my home/family. Am I perfect at it? No. Do I lose my joy sometimes and feel completely overwhelmed? Yes! There have been many times I have had to apologize to the children for losing my cool or had a mini emotional breakdown because I felt so inadequate. But, by God's good grace, He is seeing me through it! And I am learning day by day how this whole "Keeper at home" thing works!

Blessings!

Fabric Overload

(All fabric except for the night gowns...which I haven't bought yet. I'm in denial.)

2 girls
+
8 dresses each
+
2 aprons
+
5 night gowns each
=
One busy Mama

Ladies (and dad), if no one hears from me for a couple weeks...send help.

The Front Yard

John has been having fun with iMovie. I thought this was pretty cute. Loving this nice weather we've been having and getting to be outside!!

Enjoy!

Mommy Re-hab (My first time!)

Every Monday, my friend Brooke hosts Bad Mommy Rehab. In a world where it is so easy to compare ourselves to others, to feel guilt, and discouragement this is an opportunity to focus on the positive!

Last night I was having a pretty deep conversation with a friend. Our conversation turned towards the topic of child-training. She was sharing that she came from a family of 6 and that her mom did every ounce of the housework. The children didn't have any chores or were not encouraged to help out. My, how frazzled that mom must have been!!

I am thankful that we are raising our children to have a good work ethic. We are teaching them that we help not because we have to but because we love people and that is what Jesus would want us to do. We are trying to teach them to take the initiative. That if they see something that needs to be done not to just pass it by or wait for someone else to do it but to step in and get the job done. And, of course, we are teaching (trying to!) them to help and serve with a cheerful attitude.

We are hoping to instill a good work ethic that will last their whole life!

Oh be careful little mouth what (and how) you say

Something I have been working on lately, by God's grace...

It’s not so much what you say

As the manner in which you say it;

It’s not so much the language you use

As the tone in which you convey it;

“Come here!” I sharply said,

And the child cowered and wept.

“Come here,” I said-

He looked and smiled

And straight to my lap he crept.

Words may be mild and fair

And the tone may pierce like a dart;

Words may be soft as the summer air

But the tone may break my heart;

For words come from the mind

Grow by study and art-

But tone leaps from the inner self

Revealing the state of the heart.

Whether you know it or not,

Whether you are mean or care,

Gentleness, kindness, love and hate,

Envy, anger, are there.

Then, would you quarrels avoid

And peace and love rejoice?

Keep anger not only out of your words-

Keep it out of your voice.

Author Unknown

Article posted by Miss Jocelyn @ Training Daughters, Teaching Wives

I made it!!

I've been nervous for over a week. Why you ask? Early Saturday morning John left on a trip...for 4 days. I was going to be home...alone...with 4 children... 6 and under...for 4 days! Ah! This had never happened before! Granted, I stay home with them every day but John always comes home at night. So if I have had a rather tough day I can say "John, I need some time to myself." and leave. So, I was nervous this weekend I was going to be grumpy and frustrated, the house was going to be a complete disaster, and it was going to be awful for everyone. The thing I was most nervous about? Sunday morning. Oh my! I was SO nervous! I was going to be taking all 4 of my children to church with me, alone! You may not think this is a big deal but, you see, our church isn't like other churches. We don't have children's church or day care. Our children sit with us the whole time. Which I love, but doing it by myself...oh my. Oh, and I forgot to mention that our services are 3 hours long. So, all last week I was nervous about it. John kept assuring me I would be fine. I had little discussions with the children throughout the week about needing to help and being on their best behavior.

And finally Saturday came. I got up early that morning and had an amazing time of prayer. As I was praying the Lord brought to mind Proverbs 31. More specifically the verse that says "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her..." God reminded me that John needs to be able to trust that I can manage things in his absence. This was such a motivation for me! And I am happy to report that this weekend has been wonderful. They were amazing at church on Sunday and we've been having a good time! The house isn't a disaster and, the best news of all, John is coming home a day early! I should have just trusted the Lord in the first place, huh? Lesson learned.

Thanks for checking in!

~A

My Work

My Work

I have the greatest work in the world;

The job of rocking a baby to sleep,

That of guiding his tottering feet,

A baby's clothes to launder and fold,

A precious life to shape and mold,

A drink to give from a little cup,

At night his toys to gather up,

Hurts to heal and fears to quell,

A baby to keep clean and well,

A stack of diapers to put,

Oh, what a happy worthwhile day!

I am a "Mother."

I have the greatest work in to world;

A husband to encourage when things go wrong,

When he comes from work to greet with a song,

Denims and shirts to wash and mend,

A helping hand, when needed, to lend,

Three times a day is meals to cook,

To strive to be my best to look,

His back to rub at the close of the day,

For his faithfulness to God I pray,

When hubby's in the field I take lemonade,

for all these tasks his love has Paid.

I am a " Wife."

I have the greatest work in the world;

A home to keep happy, clean and bright,

Make things go smooth and strive for the right,

Jams to cook and jellies to make,

Cookies and pies and bread to bake,

Washing, ironing, and sewing to do,

So many tasks, will I ever get through?

Lettuce to wash and peas to pick,

floors to scrub, lost items to seek,

Dishes to wash and windows to shine,

These and many more tasks are mine.

I am a "Homemaker."

Help me, Father, to faithfully work,

Forgive if I unconsciously shirk,

give me the patience and love I pray,

To keep myself in duties way;

With all the hustle that each day brings

May I not neglect the needing things;

Each day to spend time alone with Thee

That Jesus Christ be seen in me.

Thank you for husband, our home, our girls and boys;

Thank you for love which brings me much joy.

Thank you, Lord.

~Mary Lou Burkholder

Thanks go to Joy for sharing this inspirational poem today! I truly love my job!

~A

A place to sew

If you had asked me about 6 years ago if I would enjoy sewing, I probably would have laughed hysterically. I had taken a one sewing class when I was a child, had a mother who loved to sew, but me?? No way. Ah....but times have changed. I now consider it such a joy to be able to sew for myself, my family, and for our needs around the house.

I have been doing a lot of sewing lately. Spring is just around the corner for us south Georgians and Lilly is in desperate need of some dresses (she just keeps growing!). I had a couple ladies over a couple weeks ago and we spent the whole afternoon cutting out fabric for her dresses. I was so incredibly blessed by that. If it took 3 women a whole afternoon to cut out dresses I can't even imagine how long it would have taken me by myself. For the past two weeks I've been using every spare minute to work on her dresses, in hopes I can have them all done by the middle of March.

So, I thought I'd give you a little peek at my sewing spot. Why?? I have no idea. :) Since it's been consuming so much of my free time lately....I just had to blog about it!

This is my table. I wish you could see the details of the table. It becomes a catch all for the household. I see a lighter, one of Lilly's memory games, and a sippy cup. At least once a week I have to go over my table and remove everything that doesn't belong there! There is also 3 half finished dresses, 5 dresses I have cut but have yet to start on, and a whole slew of zippers.

I also keep a stash of these behind my sewing machine (out of plain sight :)) It's my reward for sticking with it!





This is my ridiculously unorganized pile of things I don't use very often. A whole tub of scrap fabric, patterns, batting, and that pile of fabric is my mending pile. I'll get to it....one day.

Here is where I hang the clothes when I'm done. That's 2 dresses and 2 nightgowns Lovely, huh? Normal people would probably go ahead and hang them in the closet but it's not quite warm enough for her to wear them yet and I know they will inevitably wind up on the floor getting stomped on. So, I will keep my dress chandelier just a little longer.

This last picture is my next project after the dresses are complete. I'm going to be making an "I spy" quilt for the children. These are 6 of 100 little squares. They are all different designs. I think they will LOVE it! I'm not quite sure what I am getting myself into. I've never quilted before but am hoping I can figure it out! I'd love to have it done by Bradley's birthday at the end of March but I'm doubting that will happen. It will all depend on when Lilly's dresses are done. And then there is Kate who will need dresses in the near future too....oh my.

So, those are my projects and my little sewing spot. Do you sew? Do you have a sewing spot? I'd love to see it! Any organization tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for checking in!
~A

Tea Party

I love having daughters. Especially really awesome daughters like the ones I have. :) Sometimes when I think of the responsibility that has been given to me, of raising up these two beautiful girls into godly women....oh my. Am I, at all, qualified for this, Lord?? But:

"If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

I know, together, with the Lord and John by my side they will be amazing young women.

Today Lilly wanted to throw a tea party for her brothers. Since John and I are always trying to teach the children how to serve one another, I thought this was a wonderful idea. So, we got out her tea set, slapped some peanut butter on some Ritz crackers and broke out the Collins Street Bakery Cherry cookies that we received in the mail yesterday (thanks, mom and dad!)

She was quite the hostess, if I do say so myself. The boys were so thrilled with the whole thing.
Not only did Lilly host the tea party but she washed all the dishes afterwards without me even asking!

Did I hit the jackpot for "amazing daughter" or what?
And because I simply cannot blog about the children and leave out little Miss Kate, here's a picture of her. She'll be turning 1 on the 25th.

I can't believe it! (please excuse her runny nose....gotta grab a good picture while you can!)


Check out A Wise Woman Builds Her Home for some inspirational words about raising daughters.

Be blessed,
~A

Struggles

Patience-

1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like. (ouch!)

2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner. (oh my...sigh)

3. quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence: to work with patience. (ahhhh!)


Growing up, I always considered myself a pretty patient person. Pretty even tempered and able to get over things easily. Nothing (NOTHING) has tested my patience more than being a mother. Now, don't get me wrong. My children are beautiful, wonderful, absolute blessings from the Lord. And I am thankful for them every. single. day. But, as all parents know, children can be difficult. Many times I find myself expecting them to react to the situation like an adult would. And then I realize, "Wait a minute...that's what these situations are all about!" It is my job to teach them how Jesus would want us to behave. To teach them the difference between good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate, and ultimately sin and righteousness.

So, I'm trying to keep things in perspective. Life can get pretty frustrating sometimes, I'll be honest. But I see the progress we are making in everyday life too. Whenever Lilly offers to let one of her siblings go first. Whenever Bradley willingly tells someone he's sorry for a wrong behavior. When Luke volunteers to wipe off the table after we eat. It's those little moments that make all the frustrations, prayers, and tears worth it.

It's a funny thing too. When you pray for patience the Lord will test you. I don't want my children remembering a mother that lost her temper and threw her own tantrums. But as a godly woman with a meek and gentle spirit. So, bring on the tests! (Did I really just say that?? Uh oh...)

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ~James 1:3-5

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. ~2 Tim. 2:24-26

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. ~James 3:17

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: ~ Romans 5:3-4

So, there are my struggles. But thankfully, for me, there is hope. And His name is Jesus.

Running the race,

~A

One year later

I realized today that it had been a little over a year since I had made my breakfast vow, which was my commitment to wake up earlier in the morning and prepare breakfast for my family and stop feeding them convinience breakfast items. We had decided that bagged cereal and other processed breakfast foods were 1) too expensive and 2) too full of sugar (or more likely HFCS).

So, how has it been? Not bad at all! On mornings where I wake up a little later than usual I have my quick staples:
~oatmeal
~toast
~smoothies

And on mornings where I have a little extra time....and energy....I have other things I fix:
~pancakes
~scrambled eggs
~waffles

One thing that has been very helpful over this past year is to fix some things ahead of time. I have a baked oatmeal recipe that we all love that can be made the day before and warmed up in the morning and of course we all love breakfast cookies! It has also been really helpful to make baked goods in bulk. Usually if I bake something (muffins, quick breads, even pancakes and waffles) I double the batch and freeze the rest. This has been WONDERFUL for mornings that I've been sick or have been up all night with someone who is sick.

Over the past year I have only bought ceral twice. Once, when I had just had Kate and was recovering from my surgery and the second time when our house was overrun with the flu (me included!), which was just this past week. I knew I was doing pretty well with my commitment when Bradley had no idea what cereal was and kept calling it oatmeal. :)

Is anyone else out there trying to stay away from processed breakfast foods? What are some things that you regularly serve at your house?

Thanks for checking in! We have been busy busy busy around here!

Wish you and yours many blessings!
~A

Week in Review

We officially started our school year this past week. We kicked off the week by having a "Back to school" party on Monday. The children had SO much fun. I let them pick out their meal and dessert (hot dogs and root beer floats) and then we had several games which I had bought some prizes for. I wish I had taken pictures! The look on their faces was sheer excitment. I think we've definently started a new tradition! If you remember, back in this post, I shared my new schedule. It was kind of a big deal for me since I required me to get up at 5:30 in the a.m., something I've been wanting to do for a while but didn't have high hopes of getting accomplished. I LOVE being up before everyone else. I have a good 2 hours of quietness to read, pray, get a few chores done, start breakfast. Ahhh...it was lovely. It's just a matter of getting my lazy bones out of bed!

All in all, I think things with the new schedule went really, really well. I had John look at it before hand and tell me what he thought. He said it looked very realistic. And I have to agree. I think the children like knowing what comes next. By the end of the week, after Praise and Prayer, everyone knew to go into the school room. yay! Getting up early wasn't as hard as I thought. I had one day where I did sleep late because Kate had been up during the night. But, I'm okay with that.

On the school side, things went great. Lilly and Luke both love their new reading curriculum. We had a little trouble getting motivated to do math at first but once I chipped in and started acting really excited about it they were all for it. I need to plan better for math though. The book I'm using isn't so much of a curriculum as a book of activities and worksheets for 1st graders. So, I'm kind of making it up as I go. But I absolutely LOVE homeschooling. Yes, I'm busy but how rewarding it is!

A wise woman builds her home, once again, has a great post on christian education. She even has a few videos of one of my favorite people who speaks on this topic, Voddie Baucham. Check it out!

Thanks for reading!
~A

Hello, old friend!

Back in the day, when Lilly was younger, I actually used to sew most of Lilly and my clothing. But, then I had 3 more children and life got a little busy. I hadn't sewn anything in the past year and a half. My last pregnancy was VERY exhausting and then with having a newborn, I felt it was better to hire someone to do my sewing for me. My church ladies were even so very generous as to hold a special sewing day just for baby Kate. I came home with a whole 6-9 month wardrobe for her! But, the sewing bug has been getting to me lately. I miss it. So I dusted off the old machine, bought some fabric, and slooooowly started working on a church dress for Kate.

Not too bad, right? You can't tell too much from the picture but it's a really sweet shade of green. And yes, I know that that's Lilly holding the dress and not Kate actually wearing the dress. Kate wore the dress to church on Sunday but I forgot to get a picture. Sorry! I didn't grow up sewing and this was my first baby dress I've ever made. And considering the pattern didn't come with any instructions, it turned out pretty well. My friend the seam ripper and I had a couple dates while making this dress but, all in all, it wasn't too hard.

So, now the sewing bug has really bit me. Kate and Lilly don't need any more dresses. I think I'm going to make some cloth napkins out of a slip cover that has seen better days and I'm also wanting to buy this:

I've been waiting anxiously for the release of this book. It looks really good! Full of crafty goodness for your home. Amanda Soule has a website soulemama.com where she shares lots of ideas and wonderful ways to get children involved in crafts.

My decorating style is...simple. Somehow, I just don't feel right going out and spending lots of money on making my home more fashionable. I suppose I feel there are better things I could spend my money on. But this book repurposes old fabrics into new things. Plus, it's things I could make myself. Sounds interesting!

Free time will be low once school starts but I'm looking forward to doing some sewing and chipping away at my mile-long reading list.

Thanks for reading!

~A

My new day

I've been ridiculous with the schedules lately. Honestly. It's like some sort of weird postpartum nesting syndrome or something. Maybe it's just the fact that Kate has reached an age where I can actually get things done....maybe. Anyway, for several weeks now I've been wanting to come up with a daily schedule for me and the children. Finally, today I got motivated enough to get it done. Not a minute too soon either, with school starting up soon. Keep in mind as you read this that this is a very flexible schedule because babies need to be fed, children get boo boo's, someone gets a berry stuck up their nose (don't ask), and accidents happen. But here's my tentative daily schedule for this coming school year!

5:30- (ambitious? VERY!) get up, get dressed, pray, read Bible, check email, start laundry
6:30- get breakfast ready
6:45- breakfast with John
7:30- children get up, they will listen to the Bible on cd, read, or draw while I get their breakfast ready. Breakfast, clean up.
8:15- get children dressed, teeth brushed, chore training time (feed the cat, pick up dirty clothes, toys, etc)
8:45- Praise and Prayer (daily proverb, daily character trait, song, and prayer)
9:00- start school
10:30- snack time
11:00- start lunch (we eat our bigger meal of the day at noon), free time, outside play, listen to music
11:30- quick clean up
12:00- Lunch with John, clean up
1:00- kitchen time (bake, work on breakfast for tomorrow, etc.)
2:00- Brad and Kate's nap time, finish school
3:30- free time, laundry, story time, snacks, etc.
4:30- quick clean up
5:30- start on supper
6:00- supper, clean up
6:45- family time, free time, story time
8:15- children get ready for bed
8:30- family devotions, bed time story
9:00- children in bed, mommy and daddy time
10:30- Bed. Sweet Bed.

That's it! I've heard from several different people that children actually like to have a schedule. They feel better knowing what is expected of them. And a little structure around here would be a good thing. You have no idea how chaotic it can be with 4 children 5 and under living in your home until you've been there. Anybody??

I'm still planning on posting my schedule for the children's school work sometime. All of it is open to change though depending on what turns out working well and what doesn't.

Thanks for reading,
~A

Love this guy

We've been talking to our children about adoption lately---why, you ask?...well, we just have! :) Anyway, the other day Luke came running up to me in the kitchen in full farmer gear. He proudly pronounced:

"Mama! I'm a farmer! I take care of animals who don't have mommies and daddies. They come to my farm and then I raise them."

Then he ushered me into the school room where he had set up all of his stuffed animals. Here's a picture of him with his frog. Can't you just tell he loves his little farm? (Please ignore the fact that he's got a choke hold on the frog...it's a loving hold, I promise.)

But he was very careful to add:

"But I don't have a wife yet. I'm not married."

I love this little guy!

Thanks for reading!
~A