Hospitality

Hospitality is something I struggle with.  Don't get me wrong, I love having people over, but the heart attitude of hospitality is what I struggle with sometimes.  I usually don't struggle with hospitality when I have planned to have guests over or even have unexpected guests that we know well.  It is often the "unexpected" guests who I don't know well that I struggle knowing how to be hospitable with.

Here is a "picture" of one of the most hospitable people I have known.  She was my neighbor when I was growing up.  Nona was the grandma of the home, she loved kids, and she had immigrated from Italy in the early 1900's.

When I went to their home and knocked on the door I was always greeted with "Come in, come in".  She didn't talk to me in the doorway or have me wait outside while she called her granddaughter to come and see who had come to visit.  She was always offering me a drink or something to eat.  If she was cooking she always wanted me to try a bite of it.  If I was there close to meal time she always invited me to join them for dinner.  She loved me as if I were her own.  She always told me I could "stay longer" when it was time for me to leave.  I don't think she ever had a cross thought about "that neighbor girl" coming over again.  She always made some kind of baked good for my family at a holiday, too.


I had a wise mother who didn't let me visit too often and wear out my welcome.  She also usually told me what time I needed to be home and it was always a reasonable time, before they would be serving dinner. (Thanks Mom.)


Here's what it looks like at my home.  When someone knocks on the door, I don't think to promptly invite them in.  I am often slow to answering the door as it seems they like to come visit while I am nursing.  So they ring the doorbell multiple times or knock several times before I can get there.  I don't like to have my kids answer the door every time, because they don't seem to know what to do when they answer the door even though I have tried to tell them and show them.  When I answer the door, we may stand in the doorway and visit before I invite them in or I may say it isn't a good time and turn them away politely after greeting them.  I rarely think to offer anyone a drink, they either suffer through their thirst, ask for a drink, or get their own.  If I am serving a snack to my kids I ask if they would like one too, but if it is close to dinner I often wait to work on it, because I don't want to be rude by telling them it is time for them to leave.  I am often eager for any guests to leave so we can get on to straightening up for Daddy before he comes home from work or so I can get dinner ready.  Sometimes when we have guest(s) I feel like I have to constantly be watching what is going on between them and my children, which is good, but it is something I struggle to do with a good attitude.  I seldom ask anyone to stay for dinner, but often wonder if I should be asking them.  If I should ask them I think we would have guests for dinner several times a week.  At the end of the day I am tired and not at my prime.  I'd like to see and talk with my husband when he gets home and that's sometimes hard to do with our children who love him and want his undivided attention right away.  When we have guest(s) it is even less likely.  I often have to ask our guest(s) to leave whether its in the morning, afternoon, or evening.  Sometimes I struggle to know whether I am being selfish with my family and time or if I am giving and have already given enough.  Sometimes having guest(s) makes me weary and mentally worn as well.  I want to be available to the children who may wish to visit.  I want to be able to show a Christ-like attitude to them, but I don't really have a clue, how.  I feel so rude when I have to tell them it is time for them to leave.

Hospitality is something I'm working on, but if anyone has any tips for hospitality or remembering how to be hospitable when someone unexpected arrives I'd love to hear your thoughts.


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Clothes Pins

I left the clothespins out.  Guess who found them?

 Guess who took them in the master bedroom and dumped them out?

 Guess who thought they might be fun for a monster truck to drive on?

 Guess who thought they would make great finger extensions?

This Week's Summer Activities

These are the activities from our jar.

Saturday (Kent):  Everyone pick a story for storytime.  I had a storytime with Lissie, Clark, Katy and Kaomi with books that Lissie and Katy picked before lunch.

Sunday:  We didn't pick from the jar, but we did take an evening walk and took an unexpected stop to play at the playground.

Monday (Clark):  Share a verse from your Bible with everyone.  These are the verses we shared.
 Clark - Psalm 147:5, Felicity - Ephesians 4:32, Kaomi - Genesis 1:1 & 31, Katy - Ephesians 6:1, Kent - Acts 16:31, and Mommy - Proverbs 19:23.  We also went to Chick-fil-a for lunch to support some short term missionaries who are going to France.  They were having a fundraiser there.

Tuesday (Felicity):  Have a timed race out front - see if you can beat your time on the second and third races.  I drew a chalk starting and turning line.  Then everyone took turns racing to the turning line and back while I timed them.  Here are the results in seconds:
Kent:  18.1, 15.5, 16.3
Katy:  15.9, 15.7, 15
Kaomi:  21.1, 21.1, 17.7
Felicity:  25.1, 27.7, 27.7
Next the three older kids raced against each other.  Here are their times:  Kent - 16.4, Katy, 15.9, and Kaomi - 21.3.  Clark had fun running up and down the sidewalk, too.  I didn't time him.  I found some coupons for free hamburgers when I was cleaning last week, so I got the kids an early supper for free when we were out running errands.

Wednesday (Kaomi):  Play x-box.  They each got to pick an x-box game they wanted to play and have 30 minutes of screen time at quiet time.  They all picked a different game, so they each played separately when it was their turn.

Thursday (Katy):  Paint toenails/Warpaint.  Kent and Clark got their warpaint on and the girls and I painted our toenails.  I felt really odd seeing my toes shiny every time I looked down today.  My usual footwear is shoes and socks, so I put on a pair of sandals, just for today.



Jeff took the kids out for ice cream in the evening.  They met up with another dad and kids we know.



Friday (Kent):  Speed Clean your room for 15 minutes.  When we cleaned I found a book in my room so when our cleaning time was up I read The Quilt Story to the kids.  Then Clark got to pick another activity from the jar.  He picked - Wear a costume for the day/rest of the day.

                                                                                        
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World Map Project

I've been wanting to complete this project for a long time, so I finally worked on finishing it this week.

It started with a world map on the wall in our kitchen area.

Then I added laminated paper strips for a border and a fun multi-colored border to the edge of the laminated paper.  The multi-colored border gave it a nice finished look.

I really like the border.  It adds interest to the wall and just isn't boring anymore.  Then I added pictures of friends from around the world and labels to what county they live in.

I will also add ribbons that go to each country and a title for our map.  We will enjoy being able to see our friends pictures and where they live in the world and understand where they are in relationship to where we live.  We have lots of room to add other friends that aren't on there yet, too.


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Growing Quinn

At Quinn's 4 month check-up he weighed 15.5 pounds.

No wonder our arms get tired after holding him for a while.

Heart of Dakota Blog Roll 2013-2014

I've joined the Heart of Dakota Blog Roll this year where others who use the same curriculum can link up together and see what we are doing in our curriculum.  Click the button to find other bloggers who use this curriculum.

The Post Office

Yesterday we went to the post office.  Katy had a package that she had put together and we needed to get it mailed to Pa and Mimi.  While I enjoy the Post office, taking six kids into our tiny post office isn't the most fun for this mommy.  Our post office is very small and for some reason the kids decide the post office furniture tables are fun to climb on/under, even when they are given instructions not to climb on them. (I probably would've done the same thing when I was a kid.)  So I decided to have Kent go in and mail the package, then Katy wanted to go too since it was her package.  I let them both go in and gave them instructions to give the person at the counter and tell them to send it the cheapest way.  Then Kent was to give them the money after they told him how much it would cost and they were to wait for the change.  I think they had fun and I hope the people at the post office didn't have any issues with the kids mailing the package.  The receipt came back with a note on it from the Postmaster saying what it would've cost if I chose a different way, but the kids mailed it how I asked them to according to the receipt.

Around the World in 60 Days - Week One

Introductory Post
We started before the dates on the itinerary, but we will probably lose a day or more along the way and end up behind.

We took pictures for the kids passports on day one.

On day three we played a hide the sheep game.  They've played it several times since then, too.

On day four we all worked together to make a picture with all kinds of landscapes.  Felicity drew the beach.  Kaomi drew a volcano.  Katy drew the mountains.  Kent drew the farmlands.  Jeff drew the forests.  I drew the glaciers and fjords.

On day five the kids drank hot chocolate while I read The Lost Milk Jar to them.

On day six we a had a dance and sing.  Everyone "dressed up".

On day seven we packed school kits to put in our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  We won't pack our boxes until October, but the school kits are ready for 5 boxes.

Over the last seven days we were in Oceania and we visited New Zealand, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.  For week two we will be heading to Asia.

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Clark Doing Laundry

I kept hearing strange sounds from the laundry room one day last week.  This is what I found.

As I watched I realized he was trying to start the dryer.

But it wouldn't start, because it wasn't set.  So he would try and try and try to push the button and make the dryer start.

I guess Katy or Kent have had him help them and he knew what to do after they set the dryer.


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Summer Activity Ideas

I made a list of all kinds of fairly simple things that I could do with the kids or things that would be fun or maybe not so fun, but necessary. I thought it might be fun to do these things over the summer that involve using things we have around the house or planning an event or trip that will be low cost.  I typed up the ideas (3 pages worth), cut them apart, folded them in half and put them in a jar.  I've since thought of some other ideas and written them down and added them to the jar.  We pull one or maybe two activities from the jar most days at 9:15 am.  Then we do what it says that day.  We started on Memorial Day and everyone rotates through pulling an idea.

These are the ones we've done this week.
Monday (Jeff):  Dollhouse/Action Figures - I put the dollhouse in the gameroom and got all the dolls and accessories out and got out Kent's action figures.  They've been having a blast playing with something that hadn't been out in a while.  It looks kind of funny to see several of Kent's action figures sitting on the purple couch in the dollhouse.

Tuesday (Clark):  Have ice cream - I served the kids chocolate ice cream for desert at lunch.  The littles were quite messy, but it was a fun treat for everyone.

Wednesday (Felicity):  Everyone give Mommy a hug and tell her "I love you.' - They all did this and I enjoyed the extra hugs and kisses.  I returned their hugs and I love yous immediately.  Then they wanted to pull another idea from the jar.  Kaomi pulled an idea out to plan an activity, but as the day went on I realized that this week the idea wouldn't work well as it involved some other people we know who wouldn't be available.  I explained this to the kids and we put it back on Thursday Morning.

Thursday (Kaomi):  Choose a missionary and write a letter to them.  Since Kaomi's pick yesterday didn't work, I let her pick again.  - Everyone thought of a missionary to send a letter to and the letters/drawings will be going to 4 continents.  This was fun.  Everyone had their own idea immediately of who they wanted to write to and we didn't have any doubles or fighting.  Everyone wrote to someone they know, which makes it even more fun.  Kent chose someone we have had to our home several times.  Katy chose a child who used to live in our neighborhood.  Kaomi chose someone she knew from Sunday School and Felicity chose a teacher she had at childcare.  I added a short note with each of the kids notes.

Friday (Katy): Have a concert - each person sings a song or plays the piano, guitar, etc for everyone else.  Everyone decided what they were going to do and let me know so I could make a program for the evening concert.

Our program looked something like this:
The Sears Family Concert
Master of ceremonies:  Kent
Felicity and Clark:  The B-I-B-L-E, Kent - Little Spider Spins a Web (Piano), Kaomi and Clark - Jesus Loves Me (Singing with Tambourine and Bells), Katy - Waltz (Piano), Mommy -  Summer Moon (Piano), Daddy -  It Is Well With My Soul and Indescribable  (Guitar/Vocal)

We ended the evening with brownies.

I forgot to take pictures, but Jeff recorded it.

The kids all enjoyed it and wanted to put the idea back in the jar so we could do it again.  I told them we would wait until we finished the other ones then we will put it back in the jar.  I think it will be something we do again, even if it isn't something we pull out of the jar.

I'm planning on writing each week about the activities we do from our jar.

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Our 10th Anniversary

This month we also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  We had talked about doing a couple different things for this year, like taking a weekend trip with just the two of us (but Quinn wouldn't have let us) or renewing our vows with our children present (but we didn't try to make any arrangements soon enough for that).  When our anniversary arrived I hadn't had a chance to get anything for Jeff, not even a card, I was a little bummed, but thought maybe I'd come up with something.  I had an idea for a gift, but I didn't get a chance to go out to get it.

Jeff made coffee in the morning for me.  When I went to get a cup from the cupboard I found a new mug with a special note in it.  When I got the to the coffee pot I found another note and a Mr. and Mrs. Coupon book.  I found a card and a package of bright hair ties on the bathroom counter, a note and some duct tape on the corner of my desk, a note and package of children phrases stickers in my diaper bag, a note and a wind chime on the piano, a note and project idea on the bathroom wall, a card and book on my night stand, a note and movie on the entertainment center and a note and special paper to frame on Jeff's desk.  My husband was so thoughtful and gave me 10 reminders of his love throughout the day, besides a few text messages.

We thought about going out for dinner, but we decided that the next day would be better, so the day after our anniversary we had a nice leisurely dinner out at Texas Land & Cattle Steakhouse (Thanks, Dad and Mom for the babysitting services).  Then we stopped at Walmart and I let Jeff pick out the windspinner he liked best as his present from me (aluminum or tin for our 10th anniversary).

My Mother's Day

I finally got the pictures downloaded from my camera from May, so I thought I'd share about Mother's Day.

When I came to the kitchen in the morning, Jeff and the kids were already up.  I found my place set like this.  Jeff even cooked my breakfast!

Mother's Day 2013

On the way home from church Jeff stopped by the side of the road and 

picked a bouquet of wild Flowers for me.

Mother's Day Bouquet 2013

Jeff fixed all the meals of the day and the kids gave me handmade cards and 

the special things they had made in Sunday School.   I felt very special.

Mother's Day 2013

At the end of the day I insisted on a Mother's Day picture with all my children.