colossians 3:23

i would have to say the biggest news this week around this house is about roger jr. he has been wanting to earn more money than what he gets around the house so he thought he could make up some flyers and do some yardwork. we have a very small yard and use a push mower. so he has mastered that. my neighbor and good friend called the other day and asked about having jr over. he was so excited. her husband was so nice and went out and bought jr some gloves and wrote his name on them. he enjoyed in taking part with us to teach jr this life lesson. my friend is pregnant and has 3 small children so it is hard for her to get out and do yardwork. so she put jr to work pulling weeds. we walked him over there yesterday as a family at about 1:30 and he didnt come home until 4:30! i was so proud of him. she sent me a few texts throughout the day to let me know how he was doing. he never asked for a break and only asked to go potty once. she treated him to some hot chocolate ( which he drank while he worked).

when he came home we all clapped for him. i hugged him and told him how proud i was of him. he was tired but he could not stop grinning. see how hard work makes people happy! we let him know if he worked hard he would glorify God. and secondary he might get more work. and sure enough he did. my neighbor asked him to come back next week to do more work.

why is it so important to teach your children hard work? well look through the scriptures. all throughout the bible there are verses that talk about the man that works hard. how he will be happy. how he will provide for his family. it even says the man that does not work hard shall not eat and the man that does not provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever! teaching them when they are young may set the pattern for the rest of their life. it teaches them responsibility. it teaches them respect. and as a young man it teaches him how to prepare for providing for a family someday. why do we take this so seriously as parents. for one, God takes it seriously. also our country has gotten so far away from having a good work ethic. as parents we need to try and put a stop to it. we can change the next generation for the better. i can already see an attitude change in my now young man. he carries himself a bit differently. he is more eager to help around the house.

that morning before jr went to work hs daddy called him and gave him a pep talk and prayed with him. keeping in line with this scripture which jr memorized before going over there,

colossians 3:23 "and whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men."

homeschool

this has been a fun week of homeschooling. it was so nice not to have any activities to drive to. we have been home all day getting alot of schoolwork and baking done. definately a home economics kind of week. there has been a very peaceful atmosphere here this week. we have been doing alot of studying this week about pilgrims. the children have really enjoyed the pilgrim stories we have been reading out loud. today is a day off...technically. but we are going to do some school. its nice when we are home to get ahead a little so when we have those busy days full of doctors and dentst appointments we can relax a little. another fun book i have added to our group reading is a character first book. right now we are reading about responsibility. i think these lessons are more important than some of the required lessons we have. we are looking foward to having the next 4 days off though!!
reason #2 why i love homeschooling....flexability!

chores

my kids have always been big helpers around the house. they all had their regular chores. but it seemed like i was nagging them all day to do their chores. i started to hate the sound of my own voice by the end of the day.
so i came up with an idea that would urge my children to get their chorse done on their own without so much prompting from me. each child has a chore list hanging up in their room. i divided up their chores by morning, afternoon and evening. so now all i do is tell them go take care of your morning/afternoon/evening chores and they go get it done.
the rule is that morning chores are done first thing when they wake up. some of these include: feeding the dogs, picking up dog poo, making beds, cleaning rooms, checking garbage bags, wiping bathroom counters,helping mom with breakfast, and showers.
afternoon chores usually happen when we stop school for our lunchbreak. while im making lunch they conquer these chores. some of these chores include, checking the laundry, practicing instruments, rechecking garbages, walking dogs and schoolwork. even the little guys have a list of things they get to do. like cleaning up their toys so we can sit down for lunch.
evening chores are usually done while i get dinner together. alot of the chores repeat themselves but need to be kept up on. so some of these chores are making dinner, checking laundry, garbages, and picking rooms up again.
we do give our kids an allowance. i think alot of the things they do is expected in teaching them that it takes teamwork to run a family. but i also think by giving them allowance it allows us to teach them about money. i dont have a set amount they get. but they do get a little each week.
i like being more organized this year. it has really helped our days run smoother!

a trip to the doctor

has anyone ever wondered what its like taking 9 kiddos into a doctors office :) some people may call me nutty but i actually enjoy it. today we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of our time with our pediatrician. what a great doctor he is. he is so thorough. he will explain everything to me. and to the kids. which i love! he talks to each of the kids. he even lets me bring my concerns list in with me for the other kids that arent being seen. and i had quite the list today! he genuinely cares for us. he even heard the kids' birthdays announced on the radio. the big bonus is him being a christian. and when i told him we are wanting to adopt he got so excited! its nice when we get excitement and positive responses.
i like to take the kids in once a year for a physical. i love seeing how they are growing. so todays visit consisted of a physical for the birthday kids, roger and josephine. both are doing excellent. he ordered an xray for the bump on rogers foot for my peace of mind. he thinks its nothing. he reevaluated savanahs scoliosis. it has not gotten worse. he also checked josiahs lungs because he is prone to wheezing. and from there we walked to the shot clinic. josiah was due for his second hep a shot and roger was due for his tdap booster. a few tears from the baby. nothing a drink from mommys smoothie couldnt cure :) and roger was such a little man! i could tell he was so nervous. but he didnt even flinch. and he has not stopped talking about how it didnt hurt. everyone got stickers and then we were on our way...to the pharmacy that is. one more stop. we got josiahs albuterol refilled before cold season sets in. he has cold induced wheezing. praying he grows out of it like zaccy and the twins did.
an hour and 15 minutes later we were on our way! the kids were sooooo good i had to treat them to 59 cent ice cream cones from kfc. so all in all it was a good day and a great trip to the doctor.....just in case you were wondering what a trip to the doctor with 9 kids was like :)

miracle

well in the days that follow things were up and down. the doctors kept telling me everything i was feeling was normal for what i had just gone through. i ended up getting a blood transfusion when my hemoglobin kept dropping. bu i didnt feel that instant " high" they told me id feel. my blood pressure was still so high. and my pulse was resting at 140! that they also said was normal because my body had to work so hard to pump what little blood i had.
the baby was getting better each day. there were a few bumps in the road but after he got through those he improved each day. i ended up going home after 4 days. my hemoglobin was only at a 7.3 and i was on blood pressure meds. i really dont think i should have been sent home. i had to ride in a wheelchair still because of the anemia. i could barely make it through a shower without getting winded. not too mention the blood pressure meds left me feeling dizzy all the time.
josiah came home on day 6. he was amazing. thriving so well! which is good because i felt so preoccupied with my own health. i spent my daus on a couch eating and pumping breastmilk for my liitle guy. i really didnt think i was going to get better! it felt like such a slow proceess! anemia is not easy to recover from. the next couple months were filled with doctors appointments.
josiah continued to thrive and slowly i felt better. my dov took me off the blood pressure meds although it wa still high. he was sure by post partem it would go down. almost immediatly my headaches came back. i was so worried. but just like doc said right at that 6 week mark it came way down! and continued blood work showed that i was overcoming anemia. to this date my hemoglobin is back to a 13.4! im wrking out now. energized and feeling pretty normal! its amazing how god designed a womans body to recover from such traumatic childbirths!
i stop and think that my hubby could be a single dad right now, my kids without a mommy. but god is so good! i no longer sit and cry wondering when im going to die! im apreciating all my little ones, my hubby that took such good care of us all! and the amazing god i serve.

baby number 9

wow i havent blogged in a long time. so much has gone on since august i dont know where to begin. well we had baby number 9. we had to deliver him unexpectedly at 35 weeks. the two weeks leading up to my delivery was very scary and a huge surprise. i ended up developing preeclampsia. add this to my placenta previa and i was a mess! i was in the hospital for a week the first time to monitor my blood pressure. i went home for another week and was sent back because my blood pressure and protein was through the roof. the doctor didnt know why i wasnt having a stroke! i know why. GOD!
the tests done on my placenta showed that it was in a very scary position with a risk of bleeding out. going into my c section the doctors didnt really know what to expect. well i made it through the c section but my recovery was not so good. i lost alot of blood and my blood pressure was not coming down as expected. the baby on the other hand was doing great. except for a little rapid breathing he was good. he was recovering in the nicu while i recovered in my room.
i will continue this story another day!