Catch up

Catch up time!  It’s been so long since I’ve updated!  Poor neglected blog!  But that’s the nice thing about it...I can always “catch up” with an update.  

We just finished our 2nd quarter of school.  My 5-11 year olds take turns reading out loud to me 2x a day.  I spend a lot of time listening to reading!  And I love watching their speed, comprehension, pronunciation, and expression improve each month!  Little by little...precept upon precept...being faithful...it’s one of my favorite principles!  Our new favorite reading spot is the trampoline.  The only drawback to it is that the little ones all want to hop on to listen too, but always end up bouncing.  Have you ever tried to read something when being bounced?  It’s as bad as getting car sick!

We’ve been painting!  Something we talked about doing for months and finally got brave enough to try it...and it looks really nice!   And it’s very practical...as in 12 children practical!  Are you curious what we did/are doing?  :)  I’ll wait till we get a bit more done and then share pictures.  But feel free to guess in the meantime!  

Our Saturday white board chore method is working well!  Each Saturday, I just list all the chores I’d like each child to do under their name and then they go in order checking off each one as it’s completed.  I first walk around the house/yards and take note of what needs to be done.  The younger ones have worked especially well...and I think the success lies mostly in the fact they are allowed to write on Mommy’s white board which is normally off limits. :)

I planted radishes with Josiah and Noah a couple weeks ago and we have 45 little radish plants in our planter box right now.  They boys are learning the poem “In the Heart of a Seed” by Kate Brown and each morning we run out to water our plants while we recite it.

We had a couple of visitors from England this month...Wales to be exact! It was so interesting to be able to hear all about their area of the world and their accent alone was captivating!  They were vacationing in our area, and had car problems.   The auto parts store owner called Daniel to come help translate and since they had to wait for a few hours for their vehicle to get repaired, we invited them over.  They were such a nice couple.   I gave them my little New Testament/Psalms and are praying they come to know Jesus as their Savior.

Some ladies from our church came over Monday to help plan a baby shower for Hna. Lupita...a dear sister in Christ who just gave birth to a little (5 lb!) baby girl.  Lupita and her husband have recently come to Christ and were telling Daniel today that they would like to get baptized!

I’ve been reading through the Bible again this year...it’s been so wonderful!  I’ve recently read the story of Joseph...one of my favorite stories in the Bible.  What you meant for evil, God meant for good.  What a beautiful verse!  Fills my heart with so much hope and just makes me want to trust my Lord all the more.  What a precious story of forgiveness and love!  The children are reading through the New Testament with me too and we’re reading through the book of John as a family during evening Bible time.  We also just learned another hymn together in harmony.

  The chorus…

If Jesus goes with me I’ll go anywhere.  Tis heaven for me where ere I may be if he is there.  I count it a privilege here His cross to bear.  If Jesus goes with me I’ll go anywhere. 

The second verse talks about carrying the gospel across the burning deserts.  The third verse talks about being called to bear your cross at home.  Where ever He calls you, He is there! What a wonderful, faithful Savior!

Saturday Afternoon Chore Board

For those of you who have asked, I finally thought to take a picture of Hna. Tola making salsa the other day.  There are several ways to make it and this day we were making a chunky salsa. :)  Cook tomatoes and chilies on a hot skillet.  Peel the tomatoes being careful not to burn your fingers! :)

Chop them all up with a knife.

You can see we added some minced garlic right in the center of the pile...you can add whatever you'd like.  Oh, and don't forget to salt it!

We added some chopped cilantro and onion too.  And there it is!

And this is why I don't update here much!  I sat down this afternoon to upload some picture from our camera when this little guy popped into my open bedroom window from outside and said, "Mommy, do you want to play play dough with me?"  And I couldn't resist! :)