pictures, outtakes, eggs, and the color orange.

Where did the weekend go, my friends? I think, perhaps, I am just a bit more tired now then before the weekend began. We've been busy, and celebrating Easter, and spending beautiful time with family. Family is absolutely critical to who we are -- it's bonds, life, connections, and importance.

So today, I'm sharing with you my sweet and most favorite moments from our Easter weekend.

1. Easter Egg Dye 2012. Every year we make a big deal out of dyeing our eggs. And, sigh, every year, I go through those moments of thinking if we're going to really go through with dyeing the eggs -- the mess, the clean-up, the work, and yet, by the time it's done I'm absolutely grateful for those moments spent with messy hands, spilled colors, broken eggs, laughs, and joy. My table covering? Brown postal paper - we write the year and get autographs - and then easy clean up.

2. Samuel loves orange. He went way beyond his seven egg quota and was seen wandering around, grabbing other siblings' eggs and quickly, and not very quietly dunking {but rather dropping} those loan eggs into our very bright orange dye. Ah, yes, those hands of his? Rather orange...

3. 5 Dozen Eggs. 60 total hit the water. 56 were dunked in color. {We might have just tested several before} All together they make a beautiful spectrum of color. This morning? We have 2.5 dozen eggs left. Breakfast has been way too easy the last two days -- could I have an egg mom? Absolutely yes!

4. Organized eggs. Yes, I organized  our eggs by color as they went back in the boxes.

5. Family Pictures. I tried this year, again to capture some pics of all seven of my kids looking together at me and smiling. Not going to happen. In fact, that is an incredible task to get them to all line up, smile, not wiggle, and look at me. I am way impressed with those photographers of the past who could get those whole families {of course they aren't smiling because they had to stand there} to take pics. See exhibit a {pictured below} why taking pictures was a bit challenging.

6. Brothers. My oldest three boys. I love this picture. It captures who they are. Right now in life.

7. Hannah and Brennan. A classic {and perfect} shot of the older sister sneaking a kiss on her younger eight year old brother. His face? Priceless. Those two have the best relationship -- he loves to write, draw, and make up stories just like she did when she was that size.

8. Elijah {in case I haven't established that point} has a mind of his own. He decided he was done with pictures and began wandering off. Brennan looks like he might be done as well. :)

9. I've decided the girls were not the reason the family pictures didn't turn out perfect. It might have had something to do with the little boys. Case in point? Picture below. This was the first one. And, by the way, the best {at least most posed} of the older boys. :)

10. Some more. Those are my amazing wonderful funny crazy busy life-enjoying fabulous kids. And, oh my, do I love being there mom. More pics will come -- between Hannah and I we estimate we took at least 350 pictures yesterday. Love. :)

And now, it's Monday. And that crew pictured above? Well, they've got history, science, math, and more to do. And me? I'm blessed to be the one to spend time with them, teaching them, laughing with them, reading to them, and just being being there for them.

Enjoy today. Monday, April 9, 2012. It's the only one of today that you will ever get. :)

Also, try to pop over to hiphomeschoolmoms to read my post/interview with my  Hannah about homeschooling the highschooler. Click words from the highschooler.

linking with my lovely inreal life friend carissa. By the way, which pic above was your fave?

a sneak peek at the eggs

I've been pretty quiet social media wise today. Besides resting {I was up most of the night several nights ago when I was at the hospital with my lovely friend and her sweet baby}, grocery shopping, and cleaning we did our annual Easter Egg Dye. Complete with the Ugly Egg Contest. Yes, yes we do that. Can you guess which 4 eggs were entered? And, sigh, my egg was not the winner...

Here's a sneak peek {via Instagram -- thank you droid for finally getting the app} of our eggs. We started with 5 dozen. Yep, sixty eggs. And ended with 5 dozen minus seven. We had to test them, right? And that Samuel? He was quite partial to orange. So, needless to say, we have a large volume of orange eggs and a little two year old with now very orange fingers. :)

Full post coming. Soon. :)

Do you dye Easter Eggs? And, by the way, next year I'm going to make natural dyes -- a couple of my dear friends tried it this year and I'm so intrigued! Did any of you do that?

Enjoy your Saturday night and have a blessed Easter!

little things that make a house a home

It's Monday. And on Mondays I tend to give myself permission to write just a bit more random, you know? So as I sat to write this {on Sunday...lol..or else it wouldn't be ready for Monday} I decided to spend some time thinking about things that make my house our home. Little things unique to us and little things that I love.

Like these.

Rock em Sock em Robots. Yes, some of you may have this delightful toy of the past, but do you use it do decide things at a stalemate? Like whose turn is it to sweep? Or take out the trash? Or grab the mail? If you don't, might I encourage you to try it? Grin. Just call me the Red Rocker.

Me. With Short Hair. And 2 Kids. Let's see, this picture is probably about 12 years old now. And, yes, I had short hair. And also yes, Samuel looks a bit like Chloe. And also thirdly yes, Hannah was quite terrified of that Santa. That picture? On our fridge. Reminds me of when I was younger looking. ;)

Iced Coffee. This is my newest favorite thing. I could have written about it on Friday for Friday Favorite Things, but then that wouldn't be fair to you all as I'd be enjoying it for a week before you could even buy it. What compelled me to buy it? That would be the coupon that spits out at the end of a transaction. And a very sweet husband who runs to the store to get it for me. Delicious and yummy {see, I even added those words as an added bonus.}

Measuring Cheat Sheet. Every household needs one. I don't care how good you are at math, really, when it comes to the heat of cooking, and you're in the midst of that fabulous recipe, the last thing you want to do is doubt your math. Enter the $1 purchase at the Target Dollar Section and the find that really keeps on giving with correct measurements.

Elijah and the Nintendo DS. Something we try not to make a regular site in this house. He loves to play this Mario game -- March of the Minis -- where you solve puzzles. If it's too quiet, he's found the DS and is probably hiding in his room under his covers. He's pretty covert. ;)

Art, pencils, and Star Wars. All found in my older boys' room. Art, made by Brennan several years ago that he taped on his wall. {Yes, I let him...they're only young once.} A pencil bucket made out of an old flowerpot with clear beads pressed on. And a Star Wars vehicle. All part of a room that my older boys inhabit. I'd show you the floor, but sigh, then I'd have to title this one -- legos, bad guys, pencils, paper, blocks, duplos, books, socks, playmobil, starwars, and art. 

A favorite cleaner. Love this stuff. Worth the price at Target, which by the way, I can totally afford since I got a steal of a deal when I got that measuring thing for a dollar. As you can see, because it's almost empty, this is totally used in our home. Natural. Without that gross smell. And it cleans fabulous.

Verses in our Kitchen. This was one of those garage sale finds that I love. I think I paid $5 for it. And I totally love it. It's such a good reminder to me and the family when we're in the kitchen eating, doing math, reading, cleaning and more about what our family is about. Favorite verse? The one blown up below. Live with a Thankful heart.

Sleeping Samuel. Completely unique to our home. I had to sneak in to get this picture -- even then, he stirred when the shutter clicked on the camera. Love his floppy hair, and how he always sleeps on his little Backyardigans pillow, and is tucked in with his John Deere blanket. Sweet, simple things that bring this mamma a great deal of joy.

Since this was totally random I'm, of course, linking it with my friend, Carissa. Who I met, sigh, a long six months ago. I can hardly believe that was when I was in South Carolina. It feels as if several years of events have happened in that short half of a year. Blessings on your Monday! ~Rachel

somedays you just need to call it a day

I had this post I was going to share with you today called dear tired mom. I wrote it Monday morning, at the quiet coffee shop, while I was sitting there thinking about life and sipping my latte. I'm still going to share it with you, but not today. Instead, today, due to the rest of yesterday, I'm writing to you about those days where you as a mom simply need to call it. You know, make a decision, and stop what you're doing, and throw out your agenda.

Yesterday, after the coffee shop, was one of those days.

It started when Chloe and I returned from ballet -- everyone's moods seemed a bit tense. Off, perhaps. I kept plugging away, asking them to come, telling everyone to not yell, stopping some fights, cleaning up, stopping quarrels again, searching for an eight-year old who disappeared to his room when he should have been doing math, dealing with a six year-old who must have woken up deciding that today was the day where he bugs everyone, and so on and on. And on. And, well you guessed it, on.

You've had those days, right? And if not, just nod so that I feel less alone.

Finally, at around 3:30 my options were dwindling. Most of my kids had only done a fraction of what they needed to do {love having my olders -- they are pretty self-motivated} and trying to get them to write something down was proving to be a challenge. I pulled out the book Ferdinand and started reading. Normally, this helps break the cycle and I thought for a moment perhaps we were moving out.

Then I tried to get them to do their work again.

And we were back where we started.

I stood at the counter prepping dinner listening to the chaos of noises around while my blood pressure rose. I could feel it. Patience? I didn't even see enough options in my brain to pray for it then. I did pray for wisdom, and in that moment I felt peace that it was okay to be done for the day.

So I called it a day.

I turned around and looked at the table overflowing with paper, cuisenaire rods, pencils, cups, cars, legos, math books, markers and more and I told everyone to clean up. We were done. I wasn't going to continue to force my agenda onto the day. It was getting close to 3pm, and seriously, what did I think we would accomplish? Honestly, I should have called it hours earlier, but I just kept trying.

It takes confidence to call a day and stop the current schedule. I've had to do it at 9am -- those are the days where I feel the anxiety even before we begin and we'll watch documentaries, take a walk, or just read -- and today I needed to reclaim a day that just wasn't going to go according to schedule. I should have listened, I should have decided at noon that we were going to shift things around.

But, I'm stubborn. And I wanted all those boxes checked on my planner. Every single one.

My driving perfectionist self was pushing everyone to finish, to hurry up, and my own lack of patience trickled down into the home's mood -- until I relented and released my agenda.

After that? My home became quiet.  Hannah still worked away, Caleb went off and read, Brennan played with Elijah, Gracie worked on crafts, and Chloe prepped for ballet {she teaches twice on Monday}.  My home? Content. Here's the deal -- it's not failing to call a day and switch the plans sometimes. In fact, it's actually wise. That list of stuff that we should get done by the end of the year will get done. But, if I force it when I need to back off it will still get done --slower and everyone will be miserable. Including me. I've lost the heart and am just pushing agenda.

So Monday, we were done without all the boxes checked, but a sense of peace in our home.

And that, my friends, was the more important.

8 Steps to Cleaning up After Christmas

This was written last year, but I thought it worthy to share again. I had written a a post over at The Homeschool Post detailing why I don't clean up the day after Christmas. (You can read it here Christmas Mess.) Well,then after that I followed it up with how I actually attack the Christmas clean-up -- it can be overwhelming, but with a great strategy it can be doable. Don't let the clean up rob you of joy. ~rachel

1} Have a good attitude. Yes. I just wrote have a good attitude and as I tell my kids I mean it.  Here's why. I have found that is incredibly easy to slip into a posture of grumbling as one removes ornaments, or puts away presents, or sweeps up pine needles, and reclaims the kitchen. Yes, it's work. But, honestly, it's work that I must remember to be grateful for -- so many blessings that could be overlooked.

2} Create mini-goals. When I look at the entire clean up process it's easy to get a bit frazzled by the scope of what to do. So I create smaller objectives and goals. Gather the ornaments. Bring in the tote boxes and sort. Take Christmas lights off outside. Wash Christmas dishes. And gradually it will all get done. It helps to have mini-rewards as well. Like, for instance, a latte when the tree is all done. ;)

3} Donate. Sometimes I'll work through this step prior to Christmas, but on years where I miss it {like this year} I'll bring a big box down into our laundry/storage room and fill it with items that we can donate. Games that got played only a couple times, toys that we've outgrown and more. I'll also bring a big black contractor garbage bag down and work to fill it with stuff that is broken or just doesn't fit the "donate" category. And, lol, I have to work to actually schedule my pick-up for that donate stuff -- often it sits in a corner in my garage -- for far too long.

4} Keep one thing out. Last year we kept the top of our Christmas countdown chain hanging high in our dining area. It can be a really small and simple thing -- like the paper chain -- or it can be something more elaborate. My reasoning? Serves as a reminder of Christmas and keeps our family grateful for the gift of Christ's birth.

5} Roll the tree. This really only applies to those of you who purchase real trees -- but feel free to do it with your artificial one.  Once the tree is outside waiting for pickup I'll take the tree and roll it around looking for the ornament that we forgot to pull off. I'm thinking I'm going to make a special box for that one ornament for the next year -- the ornament that almost didn't make it -- or something like that and then it can go on first the following year. Make sure to organize those ornaments now before next year. You'll be grateful next December.

6} Get the kids involved. Make taking everything down as festive as putting it up. I'll assign roles -- one to get ornaments off, one to sort them {we sort by child}, one to help wrap, one to roll garland, etc... It makes the work light and much more fun. It also helps remind them to be grateful for all the blessings that they recently received.

7} Enjoy that moment where the house feels like it's gained an enormous amount of space. Seriously. Have you ever had that?  Once the tree is down your house feels like you've gained another room? It's crazy how much extra space I feel like I have then -- so I truly try to remember it for those times when I feel like we're too crowded.

8} Be thankful. Take a moment and just be thankful. For your family, for the time to spend together, for the freedom to celebrate Christmas, for the year, and for the new year, for health, for the presents that you received, and so forth. Let the process of taking down the Christmas decorations be a lesson of gratitude.

On my schedule today? More of the above. I've taken down about 1/4 of the Christmas decorations. I must say that I love it right now that Minnesota is so warm -- it helps with organizing the Christmas totes in the corner of the garage. Although I do miss snow. Sigh.

**edited to add - this year, 2012, we've had an abundance of snow and the typical cold temps. :)

How about you? What are your Christmas clean up strategies?

save the tree cut. a simple memory.

We save the tree cut from our Christmas tree every year.

It's a simple, inexpensive, and very easy tradition to start.

Unless, of course you don't get a real tree.

This is the sixth Christmas that we've had in our current home -- and it's also been six years since my husband's cancer diagnosis. So those rings of pine wood remind our family of years of victory.

The kids, especially the little boys, love to play with those pieces of memory wood.

And this year? Even better, more fun. Our tree, a beautiful Fraser Fir that we got at Costco, had an absolutely ginormous {I can use that word -- didn't Buddy the Elf say that in Elf?} trunk. So this year, 2011, we have this large piece of solid wood that we know will be talked about for years to come.

Someday, Lord willing, my grandchildren will look through that pile of tree trunk cuts and then I can tell them about this year. Sure, maybe, I'll tell them about it being six years from their grandpas cancer diagnosis, and the year that Samuel was told he had Celiac Disease. But, beyond that, I will tell them it was a year of goodness and joy. Of family, and adventures, and healing, and victory.

Save your tree cuts. Write the date.

It's a simple way to remember.

love our tradition? please consider clicking my sweet little facebook like button below.

stuff and joy. making real room.

Sometimes there's too much stuff.

I can see it all around - toys here, a paper stack, a purse on the ground, a pencil thrown about, play food, a coat on the rail, magnets, and stickers, blankets, books, hats, shoes, ornaments, dishes --  it's all here. Driving here, meeting then, memorizing this, buying that. All needing to be managed. Taken care of.

The stuff tries to chip away at joy.

Sometimes I long for simplicity.

Yet, then, when I look, I'm almost afraid to get rid of it. Hesitant.

Maybe we'll use this book for math.
This game would be great to play.
I remember when they wore this sweater.

What if we can't replace it?

There's the real root, the real reason for the stuff that takes over. It's this deep seated fear of not being able to have what I think we need. So then I start to create reasons to keep something -- instead of being okay with releasing it.

Stuff is just stuff is just stuff. 

And all that stuff, all of it needs to be managed, needs time, and honestly -- it pulls me from those that I love best. I'll get irritated at the little boys with their messy room full of way too much to deal with. I'll get frustrated that the kitchen counters have papers on them, or cookbooks, or games. I lose the stillness, the peace, the quietness, the joy in the everyday when I allow managing of stuff to cause a frenzy in my life.

I cannot live in fear. I cannot allow the idea that the stuff is irreplaceable dictate keeping it around. More does not always equal better. The stuff isn't mine anyways. It's all the Lords -- and now, right now, I'm feeling as if I'm to start letting go of what I think I need so that room can be made for what the Lord knows I need.

I don't want to cling so tightly to things, or ideas, or agendas.

Sometimes less is more. There's more space for family, and laughter, and joy -- space that would be taken up in cleaning, sorting, folding, throwing, getting frustrated by, tidying, re-arranging, complaining about, organizing -- less stuff cultivates real room.

And me, a mom, with more time that can be spent intentionally with my family.

So, once again, I weed out extras.

And in weeding I find space, real room, and joy.

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what are your best strategies in creating boundaries with stuff?

lapbooks saved the day.

I've homeschooled for eleven years.

In those eleven years there's been this ebb and flow, this learning curve of discovery trying to determine what works for our family. You see, that's the beauty of homeschooling -- this embracing of the learning that fits your family and your children.  So often we try to fit a mold, an idea, of what homeschooling should be, or could be, or looks like. Yet, it's not about a mold, it's rather about freedom, and discovery and learning to do life.

So today, I am going to share with you something that has worked well for our family. Right now, in this season. That thing? Lapbooks. I've heard about them before (and honestly for a while didn't really get them), but never have really dove into the realm of lapbook driven learning. Geography Matters blessed our family with the lapbook kits made by the awesome lapbook company  A Journey Through Learning that correspond to the Trail Guide to Learning Series that our family is reviewing (We're reviewing the Paths of Settlement series.) These lapbooks and mapping are two of the  favorite parts of Grace's day.

Why?

Lapbooks are hands-on, visual ways to reinforce learning. They create this beautiful written record -- a journal -- of knowledge for the child to share and enjoy. Our lapbooks for the Trail Guide to Learning are gorgeous, high-quality printed, and interesting. They provide all you need -- file folders, directions -- and you supply the enthusiasm, the creativity, the love of learning.

These lapbooks are worth every penny.

The pictures that you've seen are some pics of the lapbook that Gracie and I worked on for the Paths of Settlement text (part of the Trail Guide Series) Unit 1 -- we're working through Unit 2 (yes, we are, and I'm okay that that's the spot we're at -- we've had an eventful fall) right now, and every day she browses the text eagerly looking for the lapbook activity. The series makes it easy to do the lapbook -- they tell you where it's located, when you can do that activity versus the worksheet -- easy for me, the busy homeschooling mom.

Off to go do some more mapping, and reading, and enjoying today. Take a moment to peek at Geography Matter's Trail Guide to Learning Series and those awesome lapbooks from A Journey Through Learning that supplement their already amazing and awesome curriculum. :)

Would you please take a moment and pop over and like the Trail Guide to Learning's facebook page? Click Here. Thanks! And to read more of my thoughts on our year using Geography Matter's fabulous Trail Guide to Learning simply click the button below or on my sidebar.

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One last thing. Today I wrote a post for 5 Minutes for Faith called When Christmas doesn't Match the Picture. It's a heartfelt letter of encouragement to those struggling with life during the Christmas season. Here's the  intro:

I am writing this today for those of you whose Christmas season isn’t looking so festive. You’re struggling perhaps. Or your finances are a mess. Or a loved one is sick. Or a child is rebelling. Or, or, or, you know. Life isn’t always that perfect picture . And Christmas time? Well, sometimes Christmas time hurts and looks nothing like we think it should look.

if you'd like to read more {and I hope you do} simply click here