Stepping away.....

....for a little while. Its a beautiful time, Spring and I want to soak it in. I have 7 little people whom I want to dig in the dirt with...picnic in the park with and so many other things to enjoy.

The computer tends to suck me in. I use it for so many things. Homeschooling, businesses, keeping in contact with others, paying bills, researching and on and on the list goes. I enjoy reading the goings on of my blogging sisters. All of these things pull me away.

I am going to step away for 30 days and focus on my husband, children and home. Enjoy the sunshine on my face. Soak in the presence of my Savior. Loving!!

Some things I will be doing are:

Sewing summer dresses for the girls.

Planting my largest garden yet.

Planting herb gardens around the yard.

Painting my kitchen and master bedroom.

Spring Cleaning.

Reading more to my children.

I am at the N.T. in my Bible readings and plan on reading through it during these 30 days.

keeping my dishes done and my laundry put away.

Loving!!

I will miss visiting with yall, but we all know how quickly 30 days passes so you will hear from me soon....you can always email me!!!

Blessings and Shalom

PS Jaimie, I would be happy to sew Faith some dresses, just email me and let me know what you want!

Dresses, how to

New Look 6850

See & Sew B4488
I have been meaning to post this info for about a month now. For those of you who have asked me, I am very sorry it has taken me so long to get to it. Here is how I make the dresses for my girls.

First, I used two patterns. See & Sew B4488 and New Look 6850. The First pattern only comes in smaller girls sizes 1-4. The later pattern comes in sizes up to an 8. If you need larger sizes you can still make this work (I'll tell you how in a second). So here's what I do. I LOVE the See & Sew B4488s look. It has a lovely square neck and a high empire waist, which produces a dress that can be worn for a long time. So I use that pattern to cut out my fabric. I sew the bodice of the cut fabric from B4488 with the sewing instructions of pattern 6850. It is easier and looks better. So that is why I use the two different patterns. I also add buttons instead of a zipper. You will have to sew up the closer if you add buttons before you turn it right side out. (hope that makes sense)

Now what about making larger sizes. You can do this. What I do is use the pattern 6850 because it comes in larger sizes, if I want that square neck and high empire waist then I just cut it like that. You'll be a pro after you have a few dresses under your belt. I use Kwik Trace to design my patterns and swear by it, it allows me to make those size and design changes that I want for each dress and then I have that pattern forever.

Some fun things to do are to make the bodice lining(inside layer) a different fabric pattern than the bodice (outside layer).

Make the bodice and skirt two different fabric patterns/colors.

Add lace or a home made ruffle to the hem of the skirt.

Add a strip of different colored fabric to the base of the bodice, to make that cute easter dress/50's type of look.

I hope that is a little clearer than mud, if not please ask me your specific questions and I promise to get right back to you!!

Post in Pictures

Breakfast...He has always provided!

Secret Egg laying

Secret egg laying...the big picture.
Where the eggs are supposed to be laid!
Passing along his fire starting skills to the two year old.

His best side....
My apple tree is blooming!!!!!!!!

The beginnings of the fort Rob and the boys are building in the backyard. The boys LOVE it!

Yahweh

Cathedrals have tried in vain
To show the image of your face
But we are, by your design
The signature of divine

We’ll always sing your name
Forever and today

Yahweh, Yahweh
Great is your glory when you go before me
Oh, we sing
Holy, Holy
Your ways are lovely. So high above me.
Yahweh

The fortunes of kings and queens
Are wasted chasing what we’ve seen.
Cause we are, by your reprieve,
The beauty framed by your suffering

We’ll always sing your name
Forever and today

Yahweh, Yahweh
Great is your glory when you go before me
Oh, we sing
Holy, Holy
Your ways are lovely. So high above me
Yahweh

Take me, and pull me through.
Cause I can’t move without you.
I won’t leave you alone, you say.
It will be ok

Yahweh, Yahweh
Great is your glory when you go before me
Oh, we sing
Holy, Holy
Your ways are lovely. So high above me.
Yahweh.
Yahweh, Yahweh
Great is your glory when you go before me
Oh, we sing
Holy, Holy
Your ways are lovely. So high above me.
Yahweh

Ancient of Days
Yahweh!

Family

We went to my sisters yesterday for a crawfish boil. My dad came to town (he lives in Mississippi) and his dad came as well. It was nice to see them. I hadn't seen my grandfather in over 4 years even though he lives about an hour away. So, he had never met a large percentage of my children.

I just can not fathom living so close to my children/grandchildren/greatgrandchildren and never seeing them. My mind just doesn't wrap around it very well. Yet that is the story of my life. We enjoy them when we do see them, and dread the next days grouchiness from blood sugar irregularity, due to massive amounts of candy and cokes having been consumed.

My Papa whom I actually lived with as a baby off and on while my dad was working. Can you believe he is almost 80 and has had different cancers and illnesses...you just cant seem to kill an Adams though. His mother just died last year and she was 103.

My dad

Ava Rose enjoying her visit with family.

I tried.....

....to talk myself out of writing this post, I really did....but I kept coming back to it over and over again the past few days. I want to talk about something I have heard referenced on a few blogs lately. Andrea Yates. She has been created into the poster child for what can happen to a mother that is "forced/coerced/tricked into/insert implication here" into having many children.

I get upset because many dont KNOW what really happened in Andreas life and the things that led up to the tragedy that day. Many have made assumptions that she was naively led by her husband and others to continue having children even while she was sick. This was not the case. Andrea was a very involved, loving mother of her boys and loved being a mom and wife. After the birth of her 4th child she became very mentally ill. After attempting to kill herself she was admitted to a mental hospital and after trial and error they found the right combination of medications and she was once again herself.

Here is where people insert their judgment upon this couple without truly putting themselves in their shoes. She was well and had a great longing to have more children. She slowly weaned herself off the medication and even after having been off them for a while she was still well, so she became pregnant with Mary. Rusty and herself knew now what meds worked and felt confident that she could be "brought back" with these same meds if they were needed in the future. They put thought into their decision to have more children and had a plan in case things got bad again.

She had Mary and was still OK until her father died, which threw her back into a psychotic state. Rusty had her admitted and told the new Dr. what meds she needed to be on, but he did not listen. She declined very rapidly mentally after that. The Dr finally put her on the meds they asked for but then took her off again a week later, a few weeks after that she killed her children.

Now dont miss understand me, what she did was horrific. So horrific that you never think a mother would be capable of such evil. My point in all this is only to say that Andrea was mentally psychotic, off of the correct meds. I know many will throw rotten fruit at me, but she loved those babies, the REAL Andrea loved those babies. She loved being a mom and wife. The sick Andrea was delusional and wanted to keep her children from going to Hell.

This families tragedy has been used as a "see we told you so" "too many children" "crazy religious folks" type of story. When the truth is much less dramatic. So there....I'm sure I have lost all my readers....but I had to speak up.

DO NOT judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves. Matthew 7

.....here I go, I'm pressing publish....I know I will regret this.

Babies and Sleeping

".....to my question. I was wondering with 7 children, could you possibly do a post on "babies" and how you get them to sleep in your family?"

Why sure! This is quite a diverse area in that it will look very different from family to family. But per your request I will share with you what works for us. I have never been able to embrace the family bed. I am a busy sleeper, tossing and turning most of the night. Plus it has just been that one place that belonged to my husband and myself....our little retreat that we dont have to share. Now having said that our infants until about 6 months old stay in their crib right next to my side of the bed, so that I can check on them often throughout the night.

I have had really great babies, less the first one ;-) who cried most every night until he was 3. So looking back what was the key factors in getting them to sleep through the night? Training. Heres my rule of thumb. Any baby less than 4-6 months depending on their "maturity" (I know that sounds weird) will be tended to pretty quickly if they awake in the middle of the night. I will nurse them in the same room, quietly (we do not get up and walk around or turn on lights, this only arouses them more) then I lay them back down, generally at this age they will be asleep from nursing.

A baby a bit older and more aware...by aware I mean that they want to get up at night just to visit with you, gets moved in to the nursery...we have been able in all the houses we have lived in to make this room only for baby and no other siblings. I think this is important in training your little one for good sleep habits, because lets face it a baby that is woken up through out the night by a sibling is just not going to be able to form solid sleep habits. Another reason we have them sleep solo is because this is the time that they are aloud to cry it out from time to time. Which would not be appreciated by a sleeping sibling.

First off to get a good night time pattern you need a good day time pattern. ALL of my children have had the same exact day time sleep patterns (I'm curious if others have found the same thing) they sleep most of the time from birth to 3-4 months, then from 4-9 months they take 2 two hour naps during the day. From 9mo to around 2 they take one 3 hour nap a day. Then our naps go by the wayside around age two. We have always made it a point to not run errands during nap time so baby gets their sleep.

I just laid my 13 month old down for the evening. She did not lay right down but instead will fiddle around until shes ready to lay her head down. She didnt cry because she knows it will not change the fact that it is bedtime. I kissed her, put her in her crib, turned out the light and shut the door. I do not linger, talking and chatting with her, because this only makes her think I am going to pick her up. We save the chatting and laughs for morning, when I burst into her room with a big smile and greet her with much excitement.

So what does this look like starting from the 4-6 month mark, I talked about earlier? After making sure baby is full, and dry and kissed all up, I lay them down and walk out. I will let them cry (loud or hard) up to 20 minutes, if they do not calm down then I will go in and pick them up and we will walk around talk for a while, then I will again lay him down and walk out. If the crying is lite I let them go on until they fall asleep or they begin to cry harder. You will get a feel for your baby and learn when they are in distress or just not getting what they want. Let them cry when they are just not getting what they want. Once your baby realizes that you are not going to come a-runnin at every coo and caa they will learn to rest.

I know most of my readers are smart cookies, but as a disclaimer....letting a baby "cry it out" is an art. Its not black and white. Babies will have bad nights, where their tummies hurt, or they just NEED to be held. When that happens hold those babies. But the next night lay them down walk out and start over again. They will slowly build good sleeping patterns, it doesnt happen over night....but it will happen. Just for fun here is our sleep history:

Baby #1 Cried most nights until he was 3.
Baby#2 Slept through the night at about 4 months old
Baby #3 Was the best baby ever, he would lay down with no qualms and would play in his crib until I came to get him in the mornings....for those of you who are jealous....lets just say that he was not perfect past the age of 2.5 and still is my "challenging" child.
Baby #4 Slept through the night from about 3 months on.
Baby #5 Slept through the night from about 3 months on.
Baby #6 and first girl. Slept through the night from about 5 months on, we did have a 3 week span at about 8 months where she was waking and refused to go back to sleep for a few hours each night. This passed (not quickly enough) and she again resumed to sleeping all night. During that 3 week span I continued to let her cry for up to 20 minutes before I would get her up.
Baby #7 Has been my only child to NOT sleep through the night from an early age. She has woken up 5 out of 7 nights to nurse. I nurse her in a dark room and lay her right back down (I dont talk with her or rouse her other than nursing) Most of the time she goes right back to sleep, sometimes she cries it out. Even at 13 months...if she cries longer than 20 minutes I go get her nurse her again and that usually does the trick.

So as you can see each child varies, but the technique stays the same.

Window Mis-treatments??

I dont think that I have the same talent as The Nester when it comes to this kind of thing. She takes an old piece of fabric, throws it up there, finishes it off with some old fringe and Voila...it looks fabulous!!

I do it and, well....this should tell you something. My husband who, wouldnt notice if I were walking down the street dressed like Pippy Long Stocking, walked into our room and said "ah, honey we'll get you a real rod and some fabric for you to sew, like you did the ones down stairs....because the ones downstairs look great"

What am I missing, besides raw talent and cool fabric laying around the house?

Before

After
After, After,

I found a different piece of fabric and thought I would give it a try, I dont think I like it either. I am going to pick up some tassle-fringe at WalMart and attach it to the inner verticle part of the red curtains and see if that helps.

Schools

John Taylor Gatto on State Controlled Childhood Consciousness. Dont forget to pause the music on my sidebar.

Stuff and Things

We have been on the weather roller coaster this week.

Monday 82
Tuesday Snowing
Wednesday 75
Thursday Snowing

Devon my oldest has caught a cold, and to tell you just how often my children are NOT sick, in his 12 years he couldn't "remember feeling this bad" Poor guy!

It has been a whirlwind around here this week. New horizons, dreams being full filled, stepping out in faith. We have leased a building downtown where we will be opening
Greenville Combat Sports and Fitness in about 6 weeks. Rob is sieked! This (MMA fighting) has been his passion and everything is falling into place in a huge...crazy way!
We have alot of work ahead of us, but it is exciting!

(Robs in the black trunks)


I had 30 bows to make this week....so my finger tips are singed ;-) If you are waiting on an order they all went out this morning.

I attended the precinct meeting for our area this Tuesday and served as a delegate for Ron Paul. I will be attending the convention on the 29th, lets just keep praying that The Lord moves in a powerful way this election.

Morning Sickness

I found this little tidbit of AWESOME information at In A Shoes place. The cure for morning sickness...no joke? Can it really be that simple? So I extend to any of you that are in this season to give it a shot and let us know if it really works!

Ballerina

I had made this dress for the store, when I still sold clothing, over a year ago. It is technically a size 3 but Eve is pretty tall for a 2.5 year old.....so we tried it one today. It is a bit big, but fits fine. The first thing she did when she put it on was twirl. Oh...you'll have to turn your head to the right, just lay it on your desk and take a little rest while you watch. ;-)