Mother of Seven + 2

With a new school year starting, I've been getting organized to make life run a little more smoothly.  Part of the organization is to assign daily chores.   It took me several years to come up with a good system that worked for our family. Each child has a chore card for each day of the week.  The daily chores are written out on each card.  These chores are the same week after week.  I change the chores about once a year.  I change it up so they can learn to do a new task, but I don't change it frequently because it takes more time and effort on my part to teach the new child the responsibility. The Chore Cards.  The child's name is written on one side.  The other side lists the day and its chores.  It doesn't take long before the children have their chores memorized.  The cards just become a reference point for mom when she sees something isn't getting done. The Chore Card filing system.  Each child has a slot to keep...

I'm always looking for ways to fix vegetables that the kids will eat happily.  Just made a yummy broccoli-cauliflower salad tonight that all but one of the seven gave a thumbs up.  Not too bad if only one didn't care for it, and my husband loved it.  Of course, he loves anything with a little sugar thrown in. Broccoli-Cauliflower Salad 1 - 3 oz. package real bacon bits 1 large head fresh broccoli, chopped (or 2 small) 1 head fresh cauliflower, chopped 1/2 c. sunflower seeds (I used raw, unsalted) 1 cup creamy Italian dressing 1 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar 1/4 c. sugar Chop cauliflower and broccoli into bite size pieces.  Add bacon bits and sunflower seeds.  Mix together Italian dressing, vinegar and sugar.  Pour dressing mixture over fresh vegetables.  Refrigerate and allow to chill before serving. Linking up with:

 Life in a house with 4 boys between ages 10 and 13 has introduced me to a whole new concept of clean.  Ask them to take a bath and I hear, "What!!!  I'm not dirty." What!!!  That's what I said a few years ago when they boys showed up at the back door like this. I look at them incredulously.  Really!  Hair is dripping.  Rivulets of sweat leave streaks on the face.  Mud is caked on elbows and knees.  Once white T-shirts are varying degrees of gray. With a huff they head to the bath. Moms are impossible. They appear at breakfast in wrinkled, musty smelling clothes from the day before.  I kindly suggest that before they eat breakfast, they put on some clean clothes. "What!!!"  As if that was a new and novel idea. I hurry them into the car for a quick run to the store.  This terrible smell assaults my nose.  I roll down the windows despite the 100 degree temps. "Mom, why do you have the windows down?" "I can't...

Here is a recipe that makes a light and easy lunch.  It is one of the kid's favorites.  You can shorten your prep time by cooking the chicken ahead of time and freezing.  Then just thaw the cooked chicken in the microwave and quickly put together for a meal in less then 20 minutes. Pesto Chicken Wraps 3 chicken breasts 1 pkg. flour tortillas (whole wheat are great too) 1 small jar pesto 8 oz. shredded mozzarella Slice chicken breasts into thin strips.  Saute until just done. On tortillas, spread pesto. Add cooked chicken strips. Sprinkle cheese. Fold in half and heat on griddle until lightly browned on each side. Serve and Enjoy. Linking up with:

 Sometimes in life I feel like I'm being pulled down into a dark pit.  Darkness surrounds and tears abound.  This past Sunday we were taught a chorus from the Psalms that has ministered to my heart this week.  As I've wept these words go through my mind, "From the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, the name of the Lord will be praised."  Somehow singing this chorus eases the ache in my heart.  I'm not completely sure what the Lord is teaching me right now, but I'm thankful for the ministry of His Word.  I truly can praise his name.  He is all I need.  He is sufficient.  "I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.  O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.  O Lord, you brought me up from the grave, you spared me from going down into the pit.  Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name.  For his anger lasts...

This summer I had zucchini in abundance.  I stumbled across this recipe for lasagna when I was looking for a way to use up some of it.   It was great, and the kids did not even protest eating it.  I wish I had taken a picture of finished product because it made an attractive dish. Mushroom, Zucchini & Spinach Vegetable Lasagna For Sauce: 2 cans (6 oz.) tomato paste 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes 1 tsp. garlic poweder 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. oregano 1 c. water 1 onion, chopped 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional) For Filling: 3 portobello mushrooms, sliced 1 T. butter 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frzn. spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained 1 zucchini, cut into long thin strips 2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese 6 whole wheat lasagna noodles (The original recipe called for no cook lasagna noodles.  The regular noodles work fine without cooking them ahead of time since there is plenty of liquid in the recipe for the noodles to absorb and cook in.) D...

There are well over 100,000 children in foster care that are in need of adoptive families.  Their stories are heart wrenching.  Christian families are desperately needed for them.  Many women have approached me expressing how they deeply desire to take in some of these children.  I would like to encourage them to pursue doing so, but there is a dilemma.  Their husbands are not supportive. Adopting out of foster care is a difficult challenge.  I cannot imagine facing the task without being a team with my husband where we support each other 100%.    When we took the foster care classes, there was one statistic they presented us with that was startling.  They said that 80% of couples who adopt out of foster care end up divorced.  This is a much higher then average divorce rate. With our experience, I have several thoughts as to why this happens.  Many of the problems faced with the children are all consuming.  Lif...

One of my favorite childhood stories is Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss.  It is a wonderful story about an arrogant King who decides that he wants to rule the sky as well as the land.  He brings terrible problems upon his people and ultimately himself when he has his magicians cook up a dangerous, sticky new kind of precipitation called oobleck.  The story ends with Bartholomew, his page-boy, courageously speaking the truth to the foolish king.  He told him it took just two simple words to set things right.  Those two words were, "I'm sorry."  Those two simple words are some of the hardest words to teach my children to say.  If I'm honest, they are two of the hardest words for me to say.  Saying, "I'm sorry," is saying I was wrong.  It is a blow to my pride.  Admitting fault is difficult. I often get frustrated with my children when I ask them to tell their brother or sister they are sorry.  I hear, "But it wasn't my fa...

In June I recommended the game, Manners for Mealtimes , that has helped our family.  With that game, the children would have to "pay" for each manners violation. Since that time I have made our own version of the game which I have found to be more effective with my teenage and pre-teen boys.  What inspired me to work on this again was that one of my boys informed their grandma and aunt that they didn't always have to say "please".  (I couldn't believe he said that.)  Somehow we have not developed the habit of "please" and "thank you".  Instead the children only said it when they were reminded.  Of course, I didn't always catch it when they forgot.  So in their minds it was optional. I listed the five manners on a sheet of paper that our family needed to work on the most.  They are: 1.  Say "please" and "thank you" (without being reminded). 2.  Let dad and mom control mealtime conversation.  Speak only to ask ...

"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.  He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deut. 10:17-18  Throughout the world, So many hurting children, So many need our love. My heart aches. I want to ease their pain. I want to hold them close. God hears their cries. He brings through my door three treasures in need of home. I find myself helpless. Feeling at a loss, Not sure if I can handle the task. For me love is an easy word to say, Harder to live. Often characterized by selfishness. God knows my heart. Though my flesh is weak, He's teaching me to find strength. His love – It's not about me. It's by his power. Love is patient, Love is kind, It is not self-seeking. The Almighty God, The Awesome Creator, My Heavenly Father can teach me. With Him there is no favoritism, There is no partia...

Each year I try to can about 50 quarts of salsa to get us through the winter.  The following recipe contains approximate amounts of the ingredients I use.   Cooked Salsa 10-12 medium to large tomatoes 2 large green bell peppers 2 medium onions 4 garlic cloves 5-6 cayenne peppers or jalepeno peppers 1 T. salt Salsa is simple to make. There is no exact correct amount. (I'm guessing at the amounts because I make it two gallons at a time in my big canner.)  Adjust the amounts to suit your personal taste. Peel tomatoes by submerging in boiling water for 45 seconds and then placing in cold water. The skins will pop off easily. Then core and chop tomatoes. Chop all the other vegetables in small pieces. Press garlic cloves through a garlic press. (I often use my food processor to speed things up. Just be careful not to over-process.)  Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil then turn down to low and let simmer for a couple hours on...

When we went into foster care so we could adopt, we didn't want to be part of the system for a long period of time.  We had several reasons for this.  Mainly we didn't want to keep up all the paperwork, keep up on class hours to maintain a license, and have our home open for constant scrutiny by the state.  As a result when we prayed we asked God to bring us our children and let us adopt them within a year so we would not have to renew our license. Most of the members of our class began getting their licenses to foster the end of January and in February.  For some reason we did not get our until the second week of March 2006.  It was frustrating at the time.  We did not understand why our license was being held up.  Then for the first two months the only calls we got for placements were for teenagers which we had decided not to take in due to the ages of our current children.  It was the end of May 2006 when we received the phone call and brou...