"Are they all yours"?

If your a mom with 3 or4 or more children then your sure to have heard this comment, and probably more times than you care for!!lol!
I have been asked this so many times!
The last time was just a few weeks ago.
I was in the produce section of our local grocery store, and an older man came in.
Upon seeing my children, he began to count, "1,2,3,4,", and then he asked, "are they all yours'?
I replied "yes".
Then Samuel pipes up and said, "we have 5 kids."
So I add, "yes, the oldest is at home with Daddy."
Then he asks, " how do you provide for them all?"
I said, "Oh my husband provides for us, my husband and the Good Lord."
Then he glances at me again and says, "You got one in the oven too?"
I reply smiling (though atlitte shocked that he could already notice at 7 or 8 weeks), "yes we do!"
At that he saids, "What if they all want to go to collage?"
I just shrug, and by that time he is moving on, so i also went on with my shopping.


In the fall i will be a mother of 6. I still do not consider that a big family nor a lot of kids!
I am the youngest of 9 kids, so i consider a big family to be at least 9 or more. I would call a large family if they have 12 or more children.

But with most people use to the modern day families of only 2 to 3 kids, they think any over that is A LOT! Though i do think big families are having a come back. And i think it is wonderful!
I love seeing big families! I think it is so precious!

In Him,
Mae

I have a feeelin'

I have a feeling if i raised my voice less and practiced more patience things would go smoother.

I have a feeling in if I walked over to my children and told them or asked them what I wanted them to do instead of calling across the room, that there would not be an issue with not being heard. ( so often i hear, "but i never heard you", upon asking them why they did not do what they were told.)

I bet if i sung songs or hummed tunes around the house all the time that my kids would do that to. ( oh wouldn't that be beautiful)

I have a feeling if i complained less, and praised more the kids would be happier for it.


I have a feeling that if i sung silly little songs to my son Sam it may help him with his sneaking and lying habit. They could go like this, "Samuel is a child of God, he knows better than to lie or sneak, Yes Samuel is a child of God, he always does what is right".

I imagine if i was a funner mom i would have funner kids.

And if I was a quieter mom I would have quieter kids.

I have a feeling if I am always 'content with whatsoever i have', that my kids would be too.

And if i never raised my voice and lost my patience they probably wouldn't either. ( oh why do kids have to take after their moms for?"

I have a feeling if I quoted Bible verses throughout out the day, that my kids would learn their memory verses better. ( I think it is so awesome to see children that know oodles of verses from memory, of course whats better than that, is seeing those verses applied to life and lived out) (if it's not, then it's all in vain anyway)

I have a feeling i had better apply all of the above to my life and live it out to make a happier and smoother running home! And sooner the better too!

In Him,
Mae

new look

I just had to mess around and change the look on my blog yet again!!
This time i chose the design with 2 side bars. This way i can display all that i have on there easier. Though i do notice that it has made my post area more narrow.
I think the coloring makes it easy to read everything better.
For me the last color i had, i noticed not everything stood out that well.
I think i will like this new look and color, and keep it awhile.
But you never know, i may get bored of it soon as well!
I have lots of fun sharing on my blog. ( and messing around on it)
I am ever so thankful and grateful for this connection with others.

Well i got to get a little one in bed here!
So good night all!
In Him,
Mae

Above Rubies

Have i ever mentioned how much i Love the Above Rubies Magazine!!
Well,l I really, really love it!!
If you know what i am talking about then i bet you agree with me.
But if you don't know: if your going, "what in the world is the Above Rubies Magazine?"
Then you need to check it out!
It is this awesome magazine, to inspire, encourage, and uplift moms in the high calling of motherhood!! And it is put out by awesome Nancy Campbell.

You can go to http://www.aboverubies.org/ to learn more of the ministry. To see what all they have to offer, and to sign up for the magazine. The magazine is by donation only, and they do certainly need donations to cover the cost of printing and mailing to keep it coming to us all. It is sent to may countries.

Plus Nancy Campbell has many ladies and family retreats in several States, locations in Canada, and other countries as well. She is kept very busy through out the year. And is a great blessing for so many ladies and moms for it!! At the web site you can find the dates and locations for this year's retreats.

There is one coming up the first part of April here in Texas. For details, location, and registry for that, go to http://www.texasrubies.com/ . Moms with nursing babies, toddlers and teen girls are all welcome. I have been to 3 retreats and many young girls are there with their moms. It is so wonderful to see.

I hope you will sign up for the magazine if you are not already, and be blessed with it as well, as I am. Don't forget to pass on the good news to others!
In Him,
Mae

it's the little things

It's those little dear sweet things that my kiddos do.

It's the , "I love you", written in pencil on my kitchen table.
It's the hug i get for no reason.
It's the, "thank yous" after a meal.
It's those words, "you know how to cook so good"!
It's when my one son comes up to me and says out of the blue, " Jesus loves you, and Clayton loves you!"
It's when my eldest comes up to me and said," is there anything i can help you with?"
It's when 11 month old Anna is fussing in my arms , and a older sibling comes running up and says, "I'll take her!"
It's that little heart shape note with, " I love you", on it.
It's the "thank yous" i receive when i buy a little something for them for just because.
It's that pretty smile on Anna's sweet face.
It's the silly little things Sarah says to me when I lay down at night with her to put her to bed.
It's the hand drawn picture with, "I love God", printed on the bottom.
It's the, "I love you", written on the school page for me to see when i correct the school work.

It's all those little things all combined together that make the hard work of mothering all worth while. It's all those little things that bring true joy, and happiness. It's because of those things that make it easy for me to rise in the morning to face the new day, and a puts a smile on my face!
It's because of all those things that i can say , I am glad i am a MOM!!

In Him,
Mae

how to uncomplicate our lives

In my last post I talked of how our lives here in North America on the most part can be so busy and hectic, epescially more so than some other countries, cultres, and lifestyles.

So how to live here, yet live a simplier, less complicated, and laid back life?



I don't know about others but i easy get over welmed with too much "stuff" in the house. There seems to be no end to messes and things out of place and under foot. I am just like, "do we have to have all this stuff"? "Do my kids really need all these toys"?



So to me one big thing that makes life easier is "LESS"! Less things mean less mess, less things to keep up with, and less to keep organized.

The answer to that is reduce, reduce, reduce, throw, throw, throw!!

That has been on my to do list for soooo long. (Well maybe this winter!)



Another thing that helps me to keep my sanity, and to help me keep up with school, house work, and cooking , is to cut off almost all extra activities that pull us out of the house and into the van. I try to keep town trips to least as possible, and do all my shopping on our home school park day. Of course there is weeks that doctor appointments come up, and the like. Some times i almost wished we had only one vehicle, then i would not have to worry about any thing out side the home! I am a major home body you can easily see!!



There is so much out there for our kids to do and be part of. To try and do it all wears you down. So you really have to be choosy about what is really important for your kids and family, and weed out all else. Life will be less hectic and stress free!!

Another thing that i think is hard is that we live in such a commercialized and materialistic society. Always things being pushed in our face that we "must have". And it is so hard for our kids to not want, want!! They got to have 'that'; then 'that' becomes boring, then they see something else they just must have; but before you know it the fun has wore off on that too.

That's why i dread shopping in Wal-Mart with all my dear children. Too many things staring them in face begging, "buy me, buy me"!! But my kids know that i feel they already have WAY to many things, and know i won't allow one thing more! Still it's hard to see and not get to have.

Contentment is key i think!!

So i close with this: REDUCE, live with LESS, REST in God, be CONTENT with what so ever you have, and STAY HOME more!!

And life where ever you are should be happy, stress free, and non hectic.

I don't know, shoul help anyway!

Thanks again for reading my thoughts. Hoping your day is a great one!

In Him,

Mae

how we complicate our lives

I have been thinking lately about how most of us modern-day, average American families, tend really complicate our lives and make them much more hectic and busy than need to be. I know we don't mean to complicate our lives: we are just living the typical modern-day American life. It just seems normal to us. But our lives our certainly more busy, and hectic than a lot of other cultures are.

Of course don't me wrong i really like all my modern appliances, conveniences, and vehicles that make life easier, but along with it comes so much more that really makes our lives busier in the long run i think.

I have been thinking about the time my family and I lived in Belize for 3 years, between 1994- 1997.

Life was very different there. There is many different cultures there so there's different live styles, from old order Mennonites with no electricity and horse and buggy, to modern Mennonites with electricity, vehicles and big equipment, and then the Belizens them selves which consist of Mayans, Creoles, and other various cultures.

We lived among the older order Mennonites, so of course their life style was very simple ( no phone or power bills for one thing)



But i am going to take a look in at just the average common Belize home and live style and compare that to ours here in North America.


Most houses are relatively small with just a few rooms: therefore cleaning and up keep is so much easier. And you have to have less because of less space!


Furniture is spares also, making easier clean-up. Hammocks on the other hand on a plenty in the homes!


Things in general is quite minimum: so reducing much clutter. And less to tend and keep up with.


Toys are fairly few: so again reduces clutter and things under foot.


Clothes are a few changes for each family member ( this may differ from home to home though): making wash days in the creek or in the laundry tub easier. Uniforms are worn to school.


Vehicles are not owned by every family, and those that do certainly don't have two. ( gas is way to expensive for that) So that means when hubby is off to work, the dear mom is not having to run the roads doing errands or bringing kids to this or that! ( the main means of transportation is walking and bus) So of course moms living in the communities and towns can walk and do their shopping and stuff.


Birthdays ( now i do not know much of how birthdays are celebrated there) but it appears though a party may be thrown, there is not a lot of "things" given to the birthday child: again reducing clutter under foot and things piling up in the house.


Christmas is again not celebrated with a lot of gifts like here, so again less things in the homes! ( of course i suppose that differs from family to family though)


Baby accessories like baby swings, walkers, and all the other "must have" baby items here in America are not that common in most homes. Who needs all that when you have a hammock! ( again less stuff!)

Modern Appliances and conveniences are fewer as well. ( though that to differs from home to home) But hand crank corn grinders for making corn tortillas are very common!

Ok, now back to North America!

You can see our things we have and our way of life is very different. We may have all the handy things and conviences that is suppose to make life easier, but we also got all things that make our lifes more busy, cracy, and stressful and so on.
So how can we here in America make our lives less complicted?
Hmmm, good question?
I think i will save that for next post!
In the mean time i would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this subject.

In Him,
Mae