The Kids: Isaac

Isaac Johnner.  He's our little man.  We named him Isaac because God gave him to us as an answer to prayer.  Isaac means laughter.  Isaac made us laugh again after mourning another child lost through miscarriage and he continues to make us laugh every day.  When he laughs, everyone laughs, because his laugh is contagious.

Isaac turned five at the end of December.  He's tiny compared to his brothers when they were the same age.  In fact, Isaac has a very difficult time keeping his pants from falling down.  The battle is a daily one and it is real.  He's also very concerned about looking "weird" in regards to what he wears. So between his twigginess and his fashion sense, he's been our most difficult boy to clothe to date.

Just like his older brothers, Isaac loves to pretend to be a fighter pilot, a cowboy or a Rebel Fighter. Even though the eleven and under members of the family have not seen the new Star Wars movie, there's enough brand recognition, even in this t.v./cable free household (we do watch videos), that Star Wars is now a thing with our little boys.  Legos are regularly transformed into the Millennium Falcon.  Isaac, Joel and Jude spend a good part of each day running around the house and property pretending to be fleeing the Empire.

Isaac still loves ears.  Now that Joseph is older, he only occasionally tolerates an ear message from his older brother.  Poor Isaac.  He's no longer the rajah he used to be.

Isaac is becoming more his own person day by day.  He's starting to express his ideas and fill me in on funny stories about Joseph that he thinks I would find humorous, too.  Puzzles are a favorite activity for Isaac. He's quite patient and has a long attention span when putting together a puzzle.  His favorite books are still Richard Scarry books.  His favorite food is "cheesy wice." (Leftover brown rice, sprinkled with cheese, heated in the microwave.)

When we manage to pull together family Bible time, Isaac likes to add to the suggestions of what hymns we will sing. One of his favorite hymns is one his daddy taught the family, Victory in Jesus. Isaac also likes to help lead the family in saying the Lord's Prayer.  We pray that Isaac will continue to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord.

The Kids: Jude

Jude is still doing life at his own speed.  He's one tough dude, yet he's a cuddle bear.  He's the only one of our boys who will voluntarily give me a hug.  Randomly throughout the day, he'll catch sight of me, smile, run to me and wrap his arms around me.  It's enough to make my heart melt.

Jude is learning to read.  He seems to be having some of the same struggles with reading that his older sister had.  Each of them had terrible ear infections their first year of life.  Each ended up getting tubes in their ears.  I'm wondering if the constant infections affected their ability to hear language and contributed to their difficulty in learning to read.  It's just a theory that I've formulated based on some of the material I've read.  I'm no expert, just a mama trying to figure out how to teach her kids to read and enjoy all that reading will afford them, not the least of which is the ability to learn about God through His Word.

We are using the All About Reading Program, which is more time intensive than other phonics programs I've used in the past, but is highly recommended for children who struggle to read.  So far, so good.  Jude even read some of the words on the back of the cereal box to me the other morning.

Other than reading, Jude spends his days running here and there and every where.  He rarely walks. Anyone who knows Jude knows that he is not very quiet, either.  As his Grandpa Bob says, "Jude has one volume--loud."  Just seventeen months Joel's junior, Jude could not be more different in personality than his older brother.  He's a "take life by the horns" type of guy.

Jude makes me laugh every single day.  Between his facial expressions, his guttural noises and his quirky sayings, he's a crack up.  The other day, I stood in the kitchen and yelled his name.  I needed him to come to me as I had a job for him to do.  Our house is big, so often times kids don't hear me well, thus the yelling.  Thus the gift of the intercom system for my birthday.  "Juuude!  Juuude!" I shouted.  Finally, the intercom unit in the kitchen came on. "I'm not able to collect laundry right now, Mom.  I'm going to the bathroom!" (Yes, some child thought it was a good idea to put one of the intercom units in the bathroom.)

Jude also loves to playact military battles, just like his older brother.  One day not long ago, I returned home from running errands and MP Jude granted me clearance to park in our driveway. "Cops and Robbers" and "Cowboys and Indians" are also among Jude's favorite playtime activities.

Last summer, I was going through a stressful time and as a result, I wasn't sleeping well.  My friend, who is an expert in all things essential oils, set me up with a diffuser and some lavender oil.  I couldn't believe how much it helped.

Then, one day, I was in the health food store and I spotted an essential oil, took a whiff and on a whim, decided to bring it home.  It's called "Cheer Up Buttercup!" I often times get this oil going in the diffuser in the morning.  I'll make a big mug of tea, say a prayer, put on my big girl "I can do this" attitude and dig into that day's homeschool lessons. Jude calls the oil, "Suck It Up, Buttercup!" because he can't remember it's real name.  I think I like Jude's name better.

We are beginning to see glimpses of the soft heart Jude displays toward the things of the Lord.  He asks thoughtful questions during our Bible study time and quietly contemplates truths we are studying.  His dad and I trust that the Lord will fashion Jude into a "contender for the faith," just as his namesake exhorted believers to be.

The Kids: Joel

Joel Robert William.  It's a fitting name for a grown man stuck in a boy's body.  Joel is the only one of our children who has two middle names.  Matt and I weren't sure that we'd be able to have more children after Joel, so we decided to give him both of his grandfathers' names just in case.

At eight, soon to be nine years old, our little mustachioed man is growing taller and more philosophical by the day, although he no longer sports a stache. Joel is an observer and will only join an activity once he thinks he has a handle on it.  His is very concerned about proper rule following, which leads to concern over rule breaking.

For the most part, Joel is quite serious. That doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy laughing.  He does. However, he's not into silliness.  He speaks slowly and purposely.  He doesn't waste words.  He often times is quiet during our loud family dinner conversations, but then will pipe up with a deeply profound statement that bowls us over.

Joel recently took over Paul's chicken business which supplies eggs to a few customers and partially supplies our own family with eggs.  Paul was looking to get into his knife sharpening/making business and it seemed appropriate that Joel would take over the chickens.  As such, Joel is responsible to let the chickens in and out of the chicken house each day and make sure they have plenty of food and water. He also collects, cleans and dates the eggs every day.

Joel loves to read and he loves to role play WWII battles with his three little brothers.  Matt got me an intercom system for my birthday so I wouldn't have to do so much yelling to get kids to come from the far corners of the earth.  Of course, the kids have used the system more than I have.  Joel especially loves to put out WWII fighter pilot mayday messages.  "I'm going down.  I repeat, going down!"

Joel is very protective of his little brothers.  He allows his brothers to sleep in his bed when they desire to do so.   I often find all three boys (Joel, Jude and Isaac) and the dog squeezed into Joel's twin bed when I do a bedtime check.

Joel helps Jude to memorize his BSF verse every week.  Jude is always so tickled to come home from Bible study and tell me how he was able to say his verse in class.  This is due to Joel's diligence, not mine.

Before I conceived Joel, I prayed that the Lord would give me another son to raise to His glory.  I did conceive, but I miscarried.  One morning I was having my devotional time and reading in 1 Samuel. Hannah's cry to the Lord for a son became my prayer and I distinctly heard the Lord say to me, "I will give you a son."  Not long after that, I became pregnant with Joel.  He is the son for which I prayed and I know the Lord has great plans for this little boy of ours.

To Share . . .

It's a rare day that I post a link to another blog here, but this one is good.  It's a post about large families and it is so true.  I e-mailed Amy a couple of years ago to ask her a question related to homeschooling. She graciously answered and offered her wise counsel.  She's a true woman of God. She blogs at Raising Arrows.

FYI

My first foray into social media--I'm now on Instagram.  I thought I might get a bit more posted if I could do it from my phone and with less words.  I'll still post here, probably about as often as I have been.  If you download the Instagram app onto your smart phone, tablet, or desk top, you can register yourself for an account (it doesn't take long), then search for my handle--broodmoma.  Be sure to spell the moma part with an "o."  Or you can just come here to the blog and click on the Instagram icon in the sidebar (click on a picture to read the caption).

The Kids: Lydia

Lydia.  She's almost eleven, going on thirty.  You know the scene in the Sound of Music where the sisters are singing, "How do you solve a problem like Maria?  How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?" all while Maria is running around in the hills missing prayer time again?  Well, the sisters could have just as well have been singing about Lydia.

What our friend said about Lydia many years ago still applies:  "That Lydia, she's a dandy."  She at once delights and exasperates me.  One minute she's asking for permission to get out more paint, cut more fabric or make homemade lip balm, the next she's showing me a completed project that is so well done, I'm amazed a ten year old could produce it.

Why not turn a button picking up exercise into an art project?

One minute I'm after her about finishing the clean up of her breakfast kitchen, the next she's wrapping yet another gift she made for someone.  One minute I'm telling her to get out her math book, the next I find her sitting at the computer composing an e-mail to her great aunt describing every detail of  her latest art project or bee hive problem.  One minute I'm reminding her to practice piano, the next she's keeping the little boys occupied for me while I'm finishing up a phonics lesson with Jude.  One minute I'm impatiently telling her to get into the van because "we are late!" the next I find her fully engrossed in The Hobbit.

That Lydia, she's a dandy.  And it's exhausting to be her mother.

Right now (as in today), Lydia's interests include bee keeping, quilting, painting, reading, knitting and making smoothies in every flavor imaginable.

For about one week this past fall, Lydia produced a daily family newsletter, which she printed and distributed to the members of the household each morning.  Here are a couple of samples:

Also this past fall, Grandma Dianne indulged Lydia's desire to learn quilting by taking her to quilting lessons.  Lydia was certain she wanted to make a big project right out of the shoot, but she was talked into a smaller wall hanging instead.  She gave the wall hanging to my Aunt Leanna for Christmas, as my aunt loves quilts and quilting.

Speaking of Christmas.  Lydia made Christmas gifts for all of the immediate family, plus her grandparents and a few other friends and relatives.  With the exception of the quilt, Lydia made all of the aforementioned gifts entirely from materials she found around the house.  For instance, she made coloring books for her little brothers by printing out free coloring pages she found online and then binding them in plastic file folders.  She made crayons to go with the books by melting old crayon pieces in small muffin tins.  She also made a "build-your-own" snowman by cutting out all of the parts from felt and then placing them in a plastic container so that Isaac could make a snowman whenever he wanted.

Christmas cards that Lydia painted

For my birthday last week, Lydia painted me a picture of two love birds on canvas.  She found the instructions online and then painted the picture with cast off paints we were given a few years ago.

Lydia received gift cards to Hobby Lobby from her grandparents for both Christmas and her upcoming birthday.  The Christmas card has been spent.  Lydia bought fabric fat quarters for quilting and has already sewn them together to make a quilt front.  We still need to purchase a few more materials to finish the quilt.  We must have spent an hour at Hobby Lobby wandering the aisles while Lydia decided what to buy.  Despite my objections, Lydia purchased the fat quarters.  I tried to talk her into a intermediate art kit, one which included an instructional video.  "But mom!  I don't need any instruction!"

That Lydia.  Not only is she a dandy, but she's also a Dean.  The Lord must have big plans for this little girl and we can't wait to see how her life unfolds.

More Hunting

My dad treated Matt and Paul to two more duck hunting trips at the beginning of January. They were guided hunts and though the temperature was a miserable ten degrees, the guys really had a good time. They shot their limit within thirty minutes the second day--the birds were that plentiful.

Matt came home and cleaned the birds. He soaked the meat for 24 hours in salt water and then ground it up. Last Saturday, the guys grilled burgers for our dinner. Paul found the recipe for Chipotle Duck Burgers in the Ducks Unlimited magazine that we still receive since my grandfather (now deceased) purchased Grace, his first great grandchild, a life time membership. Liz made a chipotle mayo to go with the burgers.  Matt topped them with Tillamook Pepper Jack cheese.   I've never been a fan of wild duck (and wild goose is just gross). I prefer pheasant and quail. However, these burgers were excellent. With more duck in the freezer, I'm sure they'll be on the menu again soon.