Our Magnum Opus

Break From Our Lenten Break

We are pretty much off the internet for Lent but we had a special treat this morning! I was so thrilled, I had to share!

Jim Bob, Michelle and Jana Duggar are in Michigan campaigning for Rick Santorum and were speaking at a venue near my parent's house.  I was able to bring some of my children, my mother and the Duggars biggest fan, my sister, Angela. 

Jim Bob and Michelle made a good case for Rick Santorum (though we were already in his corner) and were as gracious and enjoyable as could be.  Although we are familiar with the Duggars story it was special to hear it from them and get to speak with them afterward. 

_{look at Angela beaming!}

Pray that our country will elect Godly leaders!

 

The Blog for Lydia

Lydia loves babies and viewing baby pictures is almost as good as seeing the real thing.  Over at Trinity Acres they have a lovely new baby (who could not be mistaken for anyone else's baby, clearly she is one of them!)  Naturally, there are lots of good baby pictures posted and Lydia is in baby heaven.

Congratulations Julie and family!

Father of the (Largish) Family

^{(I know the 'largish' family shtick is wearing a little thin.  :)  I didn't actually plan to make it a series, it  just evolved that way.  I have a great affinity for large families and I am grateful, happy, and very busy with my eight.  However, I know that in the large family world, eight is not really very large.  So I am making fun of myself a little by calling us 'largish'. )}

Large family fathers are heroic.  They go to work with people that drive new cars, take jazzy vacations and go out to lunch every day.  Large family fathers drive beaters or mini vans to work. Large family fathers take trips with their children, go on scout camp outs and sleep over night in an uncomfortable chair in the mother baby unit every two years while they hold their newly post-partum wife's hand over the bed rail.  That's their exciting get-away.  Large family fathers bring their little bag lunch, lovingly packed by their wife.  The upside to the bag lunch is that often the co-workers will comment on how good the food looks or smells and wish they had someone who packed them that food.  The downside is when the loving wife forgets to pack a lunch, they have to eat off the dollar menu at the fast food joint.  Yuck.

Large family fathers come home at night exhausted and still help their children when they are stuck on physics or algebra.  They are sports coaches and scout leaders.  They pick up and drop off children at various functions.  They go to the store for groceries so their wife does not have to load all the little ones in the van in snow and sleet.  Or even just because she is tired.

Large family fathers still think they can set their personal things down somewhere and the things won't be disturbed. But they are broken in enough that they don't get upset when the things inevitably are disturbed.  Large family fathers are used to looking around the yard for the tool they need.  Large family fathers are used to finding a toy in their bed.  Or a child.  Sometimes both.

Large family fathers lead the family in prayer, even when the toddlers is making it hard.  They take their children to confession often and make sure everyone gets out the door for Sunday Mass on time.  They try to do these things with encouragement and civility but an occasional bellow is sometimes required. :)  When dad bellows, or even commands quietly, the offenders straighten up quickly, it's rather miraculous.

We wives of these men are the most blessed women ever.  We would be happy if our sons are like them and our daughters marry men like them.  They are servant leaders, not only in their family but in their communities as well.  Large family fathers are the salt of the earth.  They give God the glory and keep themselves focused on the end goal... to help their family to salvation.

Toddlers in the (Largish) Family

I am on my eighth toddler.  We are still clinging to calling her a baby but she is 23 months so... I guess she is a toddler by now.  With eight children one would think I have a handle on toddlers.  I don't.  Keeping toddlers safe and happy while mom schools or cooks is always a challenge, even with older children to help. But I have a few techniques that work with some of the toddlers some of the time.

During school time at the table we give the toddlers their own supply of paper, workbook pages and pencils or crayons.  When that wears thin, I may pull out pipe cleaners (quiet, no mess), a puzzle (that never lasts long but seems so schoolish), counters, shape sorters, small blocks, linking cubes etc.  In desperation  I may produce the playdough but that distracts the other children, so I try to look at it as a good character building opportunity for them.  :)  Our toddlers also enjoy re-arranging our silverware basket though that can get noisy.  If I remember to set it up, they enjoy Montessori type activities.  A favorite has always been moving cotton balls from one bin to the other using small kitchen tongs.  Moving anything with the tongs is fun!

We do try to teach our toddlers safety on stairs as early as possible. They want to go up and down the basement stairs to be with the other children in the playroom.   This is only safe if they are not mouthers since there are Legos everywhere.

All moms know the dinner hour is the worst.  The babies and toddlers just want mom and everyone else just wants a good dinner.  I used a playpen for these situations; when mom has to get something done and the little one has to be kept safe.  However, mine seem to climb out pretty darn early.  I never thought I would blanket train but it has worked beautifully with Lydia.  I suspect it is her temperament more than the effectiveness of my blanket training skills.

When the playpen was no longer safe for her, maybe at about 13 months?  I decided to give blanket training a try.  We spread out a toddler quilt, gave her just a couple of toys and kept gently putting her back on when she moved off.  We also gave her verbal instruction.  We were consistent, gentle and patient in returning her to the blanket.  I think it only took a few sessions for her to stay put on the blanket.  We kept it all a very happy thing.

While I am finishing up dinner prep and getting it on the table, usually with my kitchen helper, Lydia sits on her blanket in the kitchen with a book or toy. That way she can be near me which is what she wants.  We are flying with hot food and naturally we do not want her to be hurt nor do we want the table settings disturbed.  She has learned to sit there till everyone else is seated and we instruct her to get up and come to the table. During her blanket time she is near us and not unhappy at all.

Toddlers want to help.  They are no help at all but letting them 'help' you with your work when it's possible makes them so happy.   You are laying the groundwork for their future chore training and building delightful memories together.  Mine help move the laundry from the washer to dryer, wipe the table (or anything else for that matter), wash windows, stir the batter... 

One other thing about toddlers, especially in a large family.  They are in a hurry to be big kids but still have plenty of baby left in them. Even my most rowdy, bent-on-being-a-big-boy toddlers still need a lot of cuddle time with mom and dad.  They snuggle in bed with us half way through the night, cannot function till they have early morning mom time in the rocking chair and need us nearby for frequent check-ins.

The added bonus with toddlers in a large family is that keeping them safe and happy becomes a whole family project!

 

Homeschooling the (Largish) Family

We have been in survival mode for a few months so our schooling has been very basic.  Saturday I informed my family that they would be motherless and Dad was in charge of figuring out dinner for his family while I camped out in the school room to plan.  (Somehow that entailed ice cream.  I asked them hadn't they read my blog post on food planning?  They hadn't. And didn't they know ice cream was for Sundays?  Nope, they didn't.)

Here is the plan I came up with. I wrote it out on paper because I think best that way and because the printer is broken and I need the plan in my hot little hand.  When I can print, I hope to format my plan into nifty printable planning forms.  Or have a member of my technology department do it for me.

Anyways.....

First I read picture books to the youngest then put in some quiet classical or chant music and gather my students to the kitchen table.  (I have a 6th grader, 4th , 2nd and K. The high schoolers work independently.)  We begin with prayer, right now we are working on the Memorare.  On Mondays I introduce a new set of character cards.   (I cut out the wonderful cards from CHC's first grade lesson plans.)  We color them, read them then post them for the week and review them each morning.  My goal is to catch each child putting the character lessons into practice during the week.  They will get plenty of praise even for a small effort.

1. Math.  I have to help them stay on task for this and correct right away.
2. Reading for my two emerging readers, we will practice their printing directly from their reading practice.
3. While I am teaching reading the 6th and 4th graders work on their grammar and cursive handwriting books.  On Mondays they also do map skills, which has always been a favorite.
4. Blaise then goes to do his Saint Augustine's work which is history, Latin and science.  The rest of us do music.  We are working our way through Lingua Angelica one piece a week.
5. Practice our English From the Roots Up flash cards, 5 a week.
6. Poetry, we'll pick two a month and practice just a few minutes a day.
7. Science reading  on Mon. and Tues., anything hands -on on Wed.
8. History reading on Thurs. and Fri.
9. Bible reading with an occasional coloring page or illustration on Mon. and Tues. A Bible craft on Wed. This slot will be for the catechism on Thurs. (reading) and Fri.(discussion questions).
10. Saints reading.  This is usually short unless we make it a chapter book then it will read in the evening.
11. First Holy Communion Prep with Dominic.

We have been doing much of this sporadically but I think this plan lays it out in a way that will flow nicely and we'll be finished on time for afternoon cooking and housework. 

 

Food for the (Largish) Family

Tonight we demolished a large pan of lasagna.  These teenagers eat a lot! 

One of the best meal planning tips I read lately was to assign each night a type of main dish.

Here is what has worked out best for us.

Sunday - if we are all home I cook a roast... beef, ham or turkey... if the big kids attend youth group then the rest of us eat leftovers or nachos.  Either way, ice cream is our regular Sunday treat. :)

Monday - soup or stew

Tuesday - pasta

Wednesday - meatless (so I have meatless leftovers for Friday lunches and to cut costs)

Thursday - casserole

Friday - meatless

Saturday- sandwiches (usually sloppy joes, meatball subs, barb-que chicken,  or something like that) or tacos

I purchased an e-book that has been very helpful to me in planning meals and stocking the freezer in a useful way.  We do not have a big freezer right now so all I have to work with is the freezer in our side by side refrigerator.   Not much space.  So the ideas in this book were gold for me.  Freezer Cooking With Meal Starters.  It's simple.  Cook, season and chop meat, then package it in quantities that work for your recipes.   We also cook and freeze beans.  So simple.  But the little e-book lays it out nicely and we have liked the recipes as well.  I plugged them into my lists under each day's main dish category.  We like homey food that is nutritious and filling.

Just thought I'd pass on something I found helpful to my fellow moms!

Organizing the (Largish) Family

When I had our first child we lived with my parents as we were saving money for our first house.  That was good because I didn't have a household to run and life was incredibly simple. (Thanks Mom!)  So I didn't have to recover and regroup to take care of anything but one little baby.

After wretched morning sickness, our second pregnancy was indecently easy and delivery was quick.  I think I needed about one day to recover before I was managing my little household again.  With my third I took maybe one week to recover.  The forth was a ten pounder so it took a little longer for me to manage my home well again, about one month.  It was all downhill from there.  It took one year after the fifth , sixth, seventh and eighth.  In fact with that eighth I was such an advanced maternal age, I am calling it two years to fully recover and manage my household well again!

Well, two years is nearly upon me so the post partum excuse is wearing thin and I am trying to re-organise and regenerate my systems.  There are just too many people here for mom to be perpetually struggling to keep up with plans, paper work, cooking, school work etc.  Many sources have been helpful in this endeavor, but I have pulled from so many friends and ideas over the years that I know I can't really give credit where credit is due. 

I have been largely ^{_{(get it?)}} influenced by Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman.  I read the blog for a few years and am delighted that a book full of Kim's good, practical  ideas has been published! 

Since I love concise lists and tips, let me share a short list from the chapter on Teaching a New Chore [to the children]

1. Tell them
2. Show them
3. Do it with them
4. Supervised practice
5. Independent practice

Another key concept I adapted from LFL is designating a day of the week for specific types of work. 

• laundry day - every day is laundry day in a large family but you pick one day to really dig out, do the ironing etc.
• kitchen day - a day you cook and chop meat for the freezer, cook big batches of pasta sauce, bread for the week...
• office day - school planning bill paying, phone calls, paper filing
• town day - because you wrote out your shopping lists on office day when you were planning... you are ready to run errands, shop, go the post office, library etc.
• cleaning day - work with the kids and get it done
• deep cleaning/project/gardening day - depends on the season
• the Lords Day

These concepts have been quite successful in our household, and the whole book is such a practical resource.  I highly recommend Large Family Logistics.

  Menu planning has been another crucial area I am working on, hopefully I can get that posted soon and share some of my favorite helpful resources.

Going to Blessed John Henry Newman

The family of Irene Fedoryka is asking for the intercession of Blessed John Henry Newman.  Mrs. Fedoryka is losing her strength as the cancer marches forward. Please join her family and friends around the world in seeking  Bl.John Henry Newman's intercession.

"We call upon you, Blessed John Henry Newman, for Irene.  At your intercession God worked a miracle for the healing of Jack Sullivan in Boston.  Intercede with Him again, this time for a miraculous healing of Irene.  We count more than ever on your powerful intercession now that you have been declared Blessed and we know for certain that you are in the glory of heaven.  Hear us who love and venerate you, and who have experienced the power of your holiness.  Be powerful now in interceding for Irene.  Pray for this miracle to happen in a way that builds up the faith and hope of all of us who know her"

 

Mrs. Fedoryka, full of fun and great stories at a picnic this summer.

Last Vestiges of Babyhood

Lydia is 20 months old.  She can run and climb with the best of them, but it's a miracle that she can walk at all since no one ever wants to set her down.  She is probably our last baby.  She is probably the last grandchild on either side of the family.  Even among our friends, since most of them are close to our age, there are few new babies.  (Though God has abundantly blessed our parish with new babies among the young families.  We have so many beautiful young families with lots of little ones under five.)

True to form, Lydia is like my other high needs babies and has become quite an amiable toddler.  So everywhere we go, our friends, adults, teens and kids, love to hold Lydia.  I have looked over at the 'teen boy' table at Sunday donuts and coffee to see her sitting like a princess with the big boys, as they vie to feed her donuts.  Very sweet.

Some day there will be grandchildren, but nothing will compare to these precious years of pregnancies and nursing babies.  Nothing else I could have done with my life would have been as rewarding.  Nothing.  (Well maybe if I was a religious... some days a cloistered order sounds quite appealing.)

Every age is precious... we love having a 17 year old.  Fortunately for us, we will have lots more of those!  :)  But in these last months of having a baby, we are enjoying every last moment of snuggling, chubby toes and knees, happy baby laughs, and the sparkle of wonder in her eyes.

With Four Boys...

what I really need to organize clothes well, are racks for kahkis, black pants, navy pants, and jeans, complete with size dividers like in the stores.   The same for sport coats, suits and dress shirts.

That way when they grow an inch overnight I can quickly find the next size up and the item won't be wrinkled from laying folded in a box. They need dress clothes 3 or 4 days a week around here so we have to keep quite a supply.

Just dreamin'...