Why God Made Babies Cute

I have this problem.  Selective amnesia. 

Everytime I have a child that enters the "mess-making" stage.

I rant and rave that surely, this is my messiest baby yet.  "None of the other children were like this" I say.

But then, my friends and family remind me "Rachel... you said that about Hannah, and Ann, and Elijah, and David too."  

"Oh, did I?"

Just recently I came out of the shower to find Mary had dumped an entire bottle of glue out.

I grabbed my camera for evidence.

I am convinced that God made babies cute so that we don't kill them when they do this.

In fact, I say a frantic "Oh my goodness Mary!!"

but melt when she gives me her *I'm so proud of myself smile*

And then we set about cleaning it up.

Ann is such a generous helper.

    "MAAAAAARY!!!".....
I have also recently washed countless stuffed animals after Mary has given them a swirly in the toilet, 
and found an entire package of baby wipes pulled out so that she could cover up her babies, a whole tube of toothpaste squeezed out on the toothbrushes she had lined up, smashed grapes all over the living room when she used the stepstool to pull them down off the counter and then pass them out to  her brothers and sisters, sharpee marker scribble on the wall!!  and other traumatic events that I'm trying to block out ;)

But...

"Love keeps no record of wrong."

So I'm just fine with all the things I don't remember. 


Thank you Lord, for the babies.

Daughters

After our sons come our daughters. We almost didn't have them.  We almost "fixed" something that wasn't broken because we had already had 2.  Surely there's not enough time, money, energy, love for more ;)

What a crock.

Thank you Lord for taking us beyond our limits!   (You still are, oh me-oh my!)

Mary

Mary

Mary

Mary is such a go-getter. She dances from morning till night, jumping, twirling.  She can keep up with her brothers and sisters quite well.  She is full of self-initiative.  When I didn't immediately respond to get her a drink of water, she took her cup to the toilet and helped herself.

Hannah

Hannah

 Hannah

Hannah has selective hearing.  She will flat out ignore me if I'm getting in the way of her plans.  She loves to play hard, get down and dirty, let her hair go wild.  But she still likes to dress up and have beauty shows.  Hannah is really good about approaching things from every angle, like patiently walking Mary down the stairs one minute and then sharing her string cheese with her and the next minute pinching her foot till she screams.  Hannah likes to make sure all the bases are covered.  

 Ann

 Ann

 Ann

Ann is a mother-hen.  Having a big family has drawn out her nurturing and "keep-order" side.  She loves to preach.  She stands on top of the coffee table with the Bible open and preaches on and on and on.   

Just the other day, she went to lead her congregation in a song and she began to bellow out "It's raining men, hallelujah !"

I laughed so hard!  Still am! She hears it on  my Just Dance Wii game.  She swears it must be a Christian song because it says Hallelujah.  Okay Ann.

Am I in for it or what??

~Choose Life~

Our Children

"I believe in my soul that this is the great reason why thousands of Christians pray and never get answers. They are selfish in their prayers. Mothers tell me that they have prayed for their children for years, and not had one of them converted. Why? Because they prayed merely selfish prayers, because they were their children, or because they wanted them to be religious, so that they would not bring disgrace upon the family, or it would be so nice to have them religious. They don't want them to cut off the vanities and fooleries of this world, and give themselves up wholly to Christ. That would be too much. They want just enough religion to make them a comfort to themselves. Would you answer such prayers if you were God?"
-Catherine Booth in 1881

I loved coming across this quote in my "They Said It" Book.   Below I've written about my own continuing examination of my role as parent, (even minister!)  I really try to avoid "preachy" posts, (I feel that is for my appointed times on Sundays), but I do hope you'll bear with me and read along:

       What is the use in praying for our children if we are not willing to be part of the answer?  What is the use in pleading for their consecration if we induldge them in ungodly ways?  What is the use in praying for their protection if we ignorantly or passively allow the corruptions from the world creep in?  What is the use in praying them off the path of destruction if we pluck them off, dust them off, only to set them down that path again?  What is the use in asking God to reveal his perfect will to them if we are not willing to give them up to Him?        
       Now is the time to train these little loves of our lives to seek God and His ways.  Now is the time to lay a solid foundation that they will build the rest of their lives on.   Love, Grace, Faith, Serving, Obeying, Forgiving.
       Show them the riches of Christ so that they do not feel deprived when you won't buy them the latest and greatest.  Teach them to love others and not posessions. Teach them to be entertained by what is good and pure, not by what is evil.  Teach them to always be honest and let God do the protecting. Teach them to choose the ways of life not death.   And spoil them rotten with your time and attention :)
       Don't be afraid.  Don't allow the pop-psycho-patterns of this world to persuade you away from what you know to be true.  If God's Word applies to you than it applies to your children as well! 

       And if you desire to give your children something you don't have- peace, joy, patience, righteousness, etc.  then get it for yourself first.  Seek God.  Ask Him, expect Him, to show Himself to you in a way that speaks to you personally. Put that burden on Him, it's His job to be God, not ours.  

Update, Scrapbooking and Japanese Girl

Well, I'm so thankful to be feeling back to normal again.  I got caught up on a lot yesterday, thanks to my dear hubby who watched the kids for me while I ran 7 errands in 80 minutes, including vacuuming and washing the car.   (I was pretending to be in an Olympic sport)   We are desperately trying to squeeze so many things in before we leave for 16 days! 

I will be heading into the Corps with the girls to catch up there too. 

Then company this afternoon, then back to the grindingstone.

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks:

We've started a new project around here and the kids are loving it.

Scrapbooking! 

When the Back To School Supplies were on sale last fall, I stocked up on 10 cent

spiral notebooks. 

Then I've been grabbing magazines from the free shelves at the Library.

Some glue sticks and scissors, wa-la.

Cheap, easy, fun.

The kids pull it out any time and work on them.  They'll sit there for an hour creating.  It is a God-send for sure during these winter months of being cooped up inside.  

Ann's

Elijah's

David's

Hannah mostly sticks to drawing "Space-Ships" (her new thing) on the cover and inside pages.

I've even started one.  I find it quite relaxing and decompressing.

I'm going to pull together the supplies to make this available to our Church Game Room children in the summer too.  I think they will enjoy it as much as we have.

 

A couple weeks ago when Paul flew down to El Paso, I stuck a couple of chopsticks in Ann's bun (from ballet) and she suddenly became a very serious "Japanese Girl".  Then she and Elijah and Hannah used her easy bake oven because she wanted to make a Japanese Girl dinner.  Before I knew it, we were all involved and I tried to make it special by eating at the coffee table and drinking our last bottle of sparkling cider in my most precious teacups, meant for precious people.

And then there's Mary. 

I had to strap her down in her high chair because she kept tyring to pull all the food and dishes off the coffee table and the kids were losing their patience with her.  She was content in her chair while she watched me fold laundry, visit with one of my ladies on the phone,  and co-ordinate the special Japanese Girl dinner. 

I am thankful that David still enjoys these simple things. 

I know he is getting older and I will have to step-it-up so that he can have as much fun as everyone else.  Too many boys his age just turn to the TV or video games, and believe me he tries sometimes,

but I'm not selling out.

He has an amazing mind, what child doesn't? 

Thank you, Lord, for giving us a mind that creates and imagines!

Christmas began last night!

There has been a lot of secret keeping among the Chouinards.

I've got so many in my head to sort out that I'm afraid I might tell a secret to someone I wasn't supposed to.

So... I told the children this morning... I'm done spilling the beans! 

Santa came to visit last night!!  You should've seen Hannah's face when she opened the door!

(My camera has been acting funny, so I didn't get that many good shots)

Hannah ran to the top of the stairs with everyone else

because she was both excited and leary at the same time.

*F* played her violin for Santa.

Santa brought presents and everything!!

Santa double-checked that he gave out all the presents.

What a fun filled evening!

THANK YOU to our two lovely friends from church and their daughter!

It was such a special and memorable treat for us all!

What's Good...

How good and pleasant it is

when brothers (and sisters) live together in unity!

-It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down on the beard,

running down on Aaron's beard,

down upon the collar of his robes.

-It is as if the dew of Hermon

were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the LORD bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore.

Psalm 133:1-3

Some funny things!

Elijah tells me he's going to go see our neighbor, "the Veterinarian".  My mind is boggled and I'm like who in the world is that??  "You know mom, the one who eats vegetables" says Elijah.  I still don't get it, but feel the need to explain how wonderful it is that the Veterinarian eats their vegetables but no he can't visit because I don't know them.    "Mooooom" says Elijah "you know her! It's *N* across the street."  "OOOOH the VEGETARIAN!" I say. 

Hannah is next to me at the table enjoying her treat of M&Ms.  I'm working on stuff but I'm listening to her say "You gonna die m and m."  I look over and she is holding the M&M up, giving it the what for, and then popping it in her mouth to eat.   Every single M&M:   "You gonna die m and m". Crunch, crunch, swallow.

David is practicing his guitar and I'm dancing away.  The other kids are at it too.  David stops playing looks at me  and says... "Mom, are you wearing a bra?"  "Yes David, of course I am" I say.  Then he says "Well I think you need to wear two." 

Ann is frantically yelling at me that she needs her "Puppy Coat" as we're running out the door.  I keep telling her, "you don't have a Puppy Coat!  Now get your coat on and lets go".  Ann keeps insisting that she can't find her "Puppy Coat".  I'm telling her "you can't find it because you don't have one!"  Finally she brings me Hannah's coat and says "see Mom, Hannah has a Puppy Coat".  "OOOOH!! Honey! You mean a PUFFY Coat!!"

Veterans Day

Today was a good day to teach our children about service and sacrifice. 
Many, many men and women have given of themselves for our great country, not to mention their families.  My dad served, both of my grandpas served, my aunt and uncle served.  Thank you, thank you!
I am so thankful and I want my children to GET IT and be thankful to our service men and women also.  Who knows, maybe one day they will enlist. 
I would be a proud Mama to see my children grow into a livelihood that is beyond themselves.

After Home League, we all lined up in front of the Corps building to watch our Veteran's Day parade. 
David and Elijah made signs that said "THANK YOU" and "WELCOME HOME".
Hannah and Ann decorated them. 
We all had little flags to wave, including Mary.  
A couple of our church ladies and a few of our staff also joined in to watch the parade. 
I love when we all do things together.

I am reading an excellent book right now "To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom" by Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen, and Albert S. Hanser.  I checked it out from the library.  I am loving it because it tells the story.... not just a bunch of facts that my head can't keep straight... tell me a story and it sticks for good.  Anyways, when I meet these guys up in heaven, I will be thanking them for paving the way for my own freedom.  Talk about BRAVE men and women. 

I won the lottery being born an American.

Thank you, Lord.

Now THAT's alot of children!!

Click HERE  to see some good pics from the other day on my friend Stacie's blog.
She did such a great job capturing the moment!
I didn't even know she tooks pics of messy caramel faces, I must've been busy with my jabberjaws ;). 
We always have a wonderful time together. 
Like I say, when we're with the Brown's, there is always someone for everyone. 
Together, we have 11 children under the age of 11. 
They always do so well with each other. 
Us grown-ups behave ourselves too!