Sneak peek - 2010 family pictures!

Here it is - your sneak peek for this year's pictures, again by the lovely Devon!
In case you've lost track, here's the roster, L to R:
Cymbre (9), Eli (7), Matt, Shiloh (3), Odelia (11 months), Serenity and Allegra (5)

So I'll give it to you straight...

You know that thing people say about how once you get to 3 kids, you might as well keep going because it doesn't get any harder? Well, like most bold faced cultural lies, there is SOME truth in it. Behold my musings on caring for a "larger" family of 4 kids and a baby.

For example, the older kids are able to help more by the time you get to that point - this can be a wonderful relief to the mom who has gotten through the years of several small ones and no one to help. However, in my experience, 4 children can make a mess of their toys, books, clothes, and bedding approximately 10 times faster than 2 children. Conversely, cleaning up takes 25 times longer with 4 children than with 2 (and probably 50 times longer than with 1, although it depends heavily on the temperament of that one, doesn't it?) because of the addition of distraction and fighting to the activity of cleanup.

Cooking food for 4 children is not appreciably different than cooking food for 2 children. However, getting seconds and thirds of food and drink for the good eaters while cajoling the "too picky to live" children and simultaneously feeding the small, messy boy while nursing the baby... I'll just be blunt, it's exhausting to the point of death. I will say that I feel the need to upgrade to larger cookware at this point because lately using my usual casserole dishes and pots is a fairly good way to ace Daddy out of his dinner - which may or may not matter depending on when and in what condition he arrives home, given his unpredictability in these matters.

Taking the children for outings has gotten really complicated in the last year. No matter where we go, near or far, someone has to use the bathroom. I think the short story is that no matter where in the birth order you are, having a baby and a potty-training toddler is the surest recipe for outing misery known to mom-dom. However, adding in big kids who have their own potty schedules and may be reluctant to go when it's convenient (although normally they do go then and then ALSO need to go when it isn't) but still need to be safely guided to and from the restroom means that on any outing, I will be visiting it more or less every 15 minutes. Even a simple trip to a playground can be curtailed after only 5 minutes of play because someone has to use the bathroom. And back home we go, wondering why we ventured out in the first place.

Anyway, it's been almost a year and things are still not "bounced back" here. I spend all day chasing my tail trying to just stay on top of the urgent and continual needs... trying to keep the kids moving forward in their schoolwork and keep them fed and keep the laundry moving... and every day the lesser tasks get perpetually sidelined for another day... which at this point looks like it will truly never come.

I'm not trying to scare anyone out of having a big family but don't do it because it "doesn't get any harder" after 3. It does. And just like all the other times, we adapt and we change and we pray and we cry and, if history has anything to teach us about this, eventually we do get back on our feet, stronger and better than before. Hoping that will happen soon.

What it looks like

Here are a few pictures of our usual school day. Yes, it looks something like chaos, but it has been going really well!

Since Odelia was born last fall, I've found myself relegated more than ever to "survival mode." Hence, this fall finds us a bit behind where I'd like us to be academically but more importantly, we are suffering from the lack of consistent character training over the last year. Last week we kicked off a new school year - a year I plan to take by STORM. Our renewed diligence is already paying dividends.


This month our hymn is Oh, That the Lord Would Guide my Ways. I love this group: http://koinemusic.com/ and I selected one hymn for each month that we can play ad nauseam that goes with our character study and some of the other things I've selected for the year. These guys do actual hymn-format music but with kicked up modern instrumentals. I absolutely LOVE them. All the hymns I chose for the year are from their albums so that it's easy for us to listen to them and sing them. =)



What I would LIKE to do is compile a "soundtrack" for each month with the hymn for the month and related songs I know of and like, our theme song for this year (Nothing but the Blood of Jesus by the Branches Band) and stuff like that. I think it would be fun to have those CDs later and be like, hey, remember the month we studied XYZ and be able to play the music we listened to that month (ad nauseam because that's how I do things) and it would really be a neat memory tool. On the other hand, maybe a soundtrack for the whole year would be sufficient.

Meanwhile, I am creating a theme for each week based on this acrostic poem Christian Character ABCs so last week we talked about Alertness and memorized 1 Peter 5:8 and learned about lions. This week we're discussing Benevolence and memorizing Philippians 2:3,4 and writing illustrated stories in which someone is behaving in a benevolent manner. Oh, and we're also reading through the book of John this month, at a pace of one chapter each day.

So... in summary, here is the plan! Next month we'll sing The King of Love my Shepherd Is - and we'll also be reading the 23rd Psalm and studying Diligence, Endurance, Faithfulness, and Gratefulness

Then...November - Chief of Sinners though I Be - and we'll be reading Psalm 122 and listening to another song based on that by another fave of mine - The Branches Band http://www.andyandrachel.biz/BranchesBand/Home.html
And we'll be studying Honesty, Integrity, Joy, and Kindness

Then...December - Of the Father's Love Begotten - that's a little known Christmas hymn that ties in with out character studies for the month of Love and Meekness

Jan - Be Still my Soul - I thought it would be fitting with the quietness of winter and stillness of snow. We will also be studying Psalm 46 and our character studies will be Neatness (hooray - can't WAIT for this one!), Obedience, Patience, Quietness, and Resourcefulness

Feb. Take my Life and Let it Be - we will be reading Psalm 146 and studying Sincerity, Temperance, Unity, and Virtue

Mar. Brothers, Sisters, Let us Gladly - and we will be reading Psalm 133 and studying Wisdom, Excellence, Yielding and Zeal

That brings us to the end of our acrostic poem so I will see where we are at that point and continue my planning and training. The first two weeks have gone well and I think it's going to be a very good year. =)

And as far as academics, Cymbre and Eli are both using a math workbook from Horizons. Allegra and Shiloh generally play with math manipulatives and puzzles a few times each week. Cymbre is working through Spelling Power, which is new for us this year and which we are LOVING. Eli is working through the reading program from My Father's World and starting to take off with it. I have Allegra sit in on our lessons when I can, but she is not always willing. Cymbre and Eli do handwriting practice based on our memory verses for the week. Cymbre got started writing essays with my little sisters this summer and is now writing essays and reports for me that we file in her binder. Science and social studies will be thematic, based on our interests and our many travels. Last week, for example, the children learned about the 1812 Overture with Matt, who used the internet to learn the real story of the war. We then got the CD from the library, as well as books about Tchaikovsky and other music by Tchaikovsky. At the end of the week, Cymbre and Eli put on a reenactment of the War of 1812 using stuffed penguins and Nerf guns that was quite a spectacle of understanding, complete with the Russian penguin praying for deliverance from the French penguin.

Old news, NEW baby!

The Intern graduated on November 10th after just a short little labor and a straightforward and quick birth in our bathroom. Her name is Odelia Hope and she's sweet and amazing and truly a gift from God.
Here she is at 3 days old:

Here she is with the whole crew at her baptism on November 15th.

Here she is with Daddy at 4 weeks, in her first 3-6 month outfit. She seems to have misread the tags... her early literacy has her confused as to the meaning of months vs. weeks.

And here she is at 9 weeks in one of her her fabulous new BumGenius Organic diapers that were a gift from some wonderful friends and the beautiful afghan that some lovely ladies at church made for her.
(This week finds her ready to bust out of her 3-6 month wardrobe - again, she seems to feel she is falling behind because of the confusion with reading the size tags. It's like she heard that the next size is 6-9 and, being 9 weeks, she's just got to get to it before it's too late!)

Odelia is just a pile of love and smiles. We are so thankful to have her in our family!!

Can't wait for spring!

I've got a little spring fever here! Looking at these pictures from last spring, I can almost feel the sun... but not quite. This year I hope to grow lots of good stuff to feed my family and to put up for winter. I also hope to get the kids out to do lots of berry-picking and canning/freezing. But for now, I'll just dream of warmth and sunshine and pleasant breezes...

39 weeks with The Intern

Oh, little dear Intern, when would you like to graduate? We would like to extend to you a full-time position as a newborn in our organization. Our compensation package is competitive and we have amazing growth possibilities for you, especially in the first two years of your stay with us while we will nurture you like no one else can.

We're ready when you are!

Our little rat!

This past weekend, Cymbre danced as a rat in The Pied Piper with the CARE Conservatory of Ballet. (See http://www.careballet.org for more information about this great organization!) She had a great time, did a wonderful job and we're very proud of her!


Here she is in costume. The rats also had a full head mask (hence the half face make-up job) for the show but I didn't get any pictures with it on. Since she danced as a rodent in Carnival of the Animals two years ago, she is a little concerned about being type-cast... but we have confidence she will move on from the rodents in due time.

Here is Cymbre during warm up with some of her CARE friends.

And here are some of her devoted fans. =) Cymbre gave Harmony, Destiny and Noah a tour of the cast so they could get autographs and meet lots of dancers as well.

This may be the biggest fan of all. Eli enjoyed the show so much on Saturday that he asked to come with me on Sunday as well. I kept him busy during warm ups by letting him tidy up the theater: putting seats up and throwing away bits of trash. After the show, he got all the autographs he wanted (save for the Mayor, who apparently doesn't like to do the autograph bit and disappeared before we could catch him) and then wanted desperately to help the parents who were in charge of striking the set. He removed a good deal of the tape from the dance floor so it could be packed away for the next show - and he LOVED it. Plus, once he was helping, a bunch of other little boys showed up and wanted to help as well! It was adorable.

Getting ready for the Wedding!!

Matt's brother Tim is getting married this weekend and the girls are SO excited to be matching flower girls. We practiced today to get their hair to flip out (Cymbre's idea - and a good one!) and then they wanted to try on the whole ensemble. I love it!

Allegra always says, "I look like Cymbre - only smaller" and she extends it to everything. My shoes are like Cymbre's - only smaller. My hair is like Cymbre's - only smaller. She's very in touch with her smallness.

Cymbre is 8!

Here's Cymbre, her *8* candle, and her Bright Sky Rainbow cake. We saw the recipe in the mini American Girl magazine that came with Cymbre's Kit doll and I found it online here: http://homepage.mac.com/baroose/iblog/C1523793326/E20070513202546/index.html I made yellow cake batter from scratch instead of white cake mix. I also made the frosting from scratch. I saved white frosting to do the clouds but was too tired by the time I assembled the cake so I went with a "cloudless sky."
Eli and Destiny are in the background waiting patiently for their cake.

Here's the cake in all its glory! It's pretty to look at but, in my opinion, not all that tasty. Everyone else seemed to love it, though!

Here's Cymbre with Harmony, Eli, and Destiny and the rest of the cake.

And here's our little Shiloh, just because he's getting so big!

If you need me, I'll be moving off-grid!

Watch this! NOW! It's long but seriously, watch the whole thing and open your mind! It makes a whole giant heap of sense out of so much insanity.

Christmas pictures by Devon!

Here are our 2008 Christmas portraits, done by my friend Devon of Photography by Devon!
http://www.photosbydevon.zoomshare.com/


I love these two shots!

This was the best shot of the whole session - unfortunatly there were no corresponding
stellar shots of the little ones together...
still a GREAT picture of C and E!

Here's our little family! Merry Christmas from the Scotts!

Our silly pictures!

We all got very silly at the end of our photo shoot with Devon. Personally, I love these!
I know my mom will think they aren't that nice... tongues out and all...
But when I am old, and the kids are busy with their own lives,
I know that these will bring me genuine joy and a plethora of memories.

Coincidence?

Last night, Shiloh took his first steps. Finally. We were all very excited to see it happen. Cymbre picked Shi up with glee. He was pretty thrilled with himself too. It seems like walking should be no big trick after all these months of Knee-Walking he's done. He is also free-range on the stairs now, which is a huge comfort since we do a lot of up and down all day and our stairs are wood.

So here is the weird thing: We have 4 children. 3 of them have started walking at EXACTLY 15 months and 1 week. Cymbre did take a few steps at 13 months but sat down and did not take up walking as a means of conveyance until 15 months, 1 week. Eli preferred to crawl and would not walk and hold hands or stand on his own until 15 months, 1 week. And now Shiloh, who has been knee-walking for quite a while, not willing to stand on his feet or do the hand-holding walk thing either, just started cruising for real a few weeks ago and has now taken steps at 15 months, 1 week. Seems like a really strong genetic predisposition, doesn't it?? Nothing else about all the children has lined up like this - not gestational age at birth, not rolling, crawling or standing, not age of wanting first solid foods, not weaning age, not age of first using the potty, not ANYTHING that I can think of - just the walking.

Allegra walked before she was a year. Every family has to have a wild card and she is definitely ours.

Don't you love it when they give you something to think about??

We've got PERSONALITY!

Just some cute pictures of the kids at a recent trip to the Children's Museum.

Shiloh with a spoon he is evidently thrilled about, Allegra dressed as a bee and feeling very cranky because one of the friendly volunteers tried to talk with her, Eli and Allegra dressed as firefighters and ready to save the world, and Cymbre learning to play the piano - with a helper in the background.

Fall at the zoo with friends!

Shiloh is still my sweet buddy in the sling.
We headed to the zoo to meet up with a long time friend and his kids. We had a great time in the lovely fall weather.

Mini Chad and Mini Matt become friends!!
Okay, so Eli doesn't look THAT much like a mini-Matt but this guy is the spittin' image of his daddy and I just couldn't get over it. Eli has requested to play with his new friend again soon. =)

Our wild bunch was curiously resistant to the group picture.