Do you have The Knack?

We're finally getting a Michael's! I think the Grand Opening is today. We're going to go check it out.

When I looked on their webpage, I found a link to something called "The Knack". If you're a homeschooler, you'll want to sign up for "The Knack Faculty". I signed up for each using a different email address.

If you join The Knack Faculty, you get special offers, project ideas, and a newsletter. There's also the first "The Knack Faculty Event" on July 19 from 1pm to 4pm. Free demos and goodies! I love that Mary Engelbreit school stuff.

If you're not a homeschooler, you can still sign up for The Knack, which has project ideas, printables, special offers, and a newsletter as well.

I knew that Daddy was trouble...

I was trying to make dinner when Daniel got all Clingon on me. I picked him up and started to nurse him when I saw it... a perfect little circle of teeth marks on his arm. We have two nibblers in this house--one is not old enough or coordinated enough to bite his own arm (plus he still doesn't have all his teeth!) and the other is Nicholas.

ME: Nicholas Martin Frontz! Look at this. Did you bite Daniel?
NICHOLAS: No.
ME: You need to tell Mama the truth. Did you do that thing where you go to kiss and then suck and bite his arm?
NICHOLAS: (A little less sure) No...
ME: Nicholas, look at his arm! Who put those little marks there?
NICHOLAS: (thinking) Wellllll... Daddy has sharp teeth!

Daddy denies biting the baby.

Jon and Kate Plus Grace

Jon and Kate Plus 8 has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a while. All the Discovery Health/TLC channels about large families pique my interest, actually. I think big families are absolutely beautiful. I think big Christian families are especially lovely, because there are so many opportunities to grow in love and grace. I'm convinced that when St. Paul wrote that a woman would be "saved through childbearing" (1 Timothy 2:15), what he really meant were those daily, sometimes hourly opportunities that one dies to oneself when embracing motherhood.

Jon and Kate, though... sigh... It just seems to get worse and worse and sadder and sadder. Last night, The Cupcake Episode, may have just pushed me over the edge.

Now don't get me wrong. I've been defending them up until now. Editing to show what makes the best TV may not always put them in the best light, and setting up artificial situations and outings because no one, after all, wants to watch a family sitting in their playroom reading stories and coloring and snuggling all day certainly sets them up for stress. And I've paid absolutely zero attention to all those out there supposedly possessing insider information about this family because it's all been so incredibly mean-spirited and gossipy.

But last night just about broke my heart. There are recaps all over the internet--just google "Jon and Kate" plus "cupcakes"--and we discussed it quite extensively in the TV forum on MDC today. I'm not going to spend my energy summarizing the show. I will share my thoughts, though.

One of the best things about being a Christian mother-- and one of the scariest-- is that my children learn about how God loves them by watching how I love them. "As a father (and mother!) have compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." (Psalm 113) It's a crazy dauntingly huge responsibility. And yes, we teach our children about things like obedience and duty and responsibility and covenants. But we also get to teach them about grace and mercy and forgiveness and love. One of my favorite parts of being a mother is taking chances to say to my kids "Look, we have this rule, and you didn't follow it. But I know this is important to you, so I'm going to go ahead and let you do this. It's not because you deserve it, or because of anything you've done, but I'm going to show grace to you, because I love you. " And I remember "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

If I could sit down and have tea with Kate, this is what I would tell her:
Look, I can't pretend to know what life is like with eight children, let alone with two sets of multiples. But I do know this-- God wants us to parent our children the way He parents us. He wants us to love them, and enjoy them. If doing a television show is forcing you into situations where you find yourself laughing at your children when they're crying or in pain, or you can't see past your rules to find a chance to extend mercy and grace, you need to rethink your priorities.

But, since the chance of me talking to her are slim and the chances of her reading this are slimmer, I will pray for her and those eight beautiful babies God has given her.

Calling all pastor's wives...

To the person who clicked into my blog after googling "exhuasted pastor's wife," bless your heart. Feel free to comment or drop me a line if you need someone to talk to.

This week's feasts and festivals, plans and projects

Another week of craziness... At some point, we need to slow down our summer.

Monday: Swim practice in the morning, and then Nicholas had his first "Stay and Play" preschool session with early intervention. Tonight, another swim practice. All this was interspersed with errands.

Tuesday: Stay and Play again! Michael and Katie Grace have a swim meet tomorrow evening, and I have a planning meeting withe HOME (Heart of Mary Educators). I'll take Daniel, of course, but I have got to find a place for Nicholas to stay.

Wednesday: Nicholas has art in the morning. I may or may not get the older two to swim practice. Depends on if Daddy can pick them up, because good as I am, even I can't be in two places at once.

Thursday: Free movie in the morning! Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Then in the evening, another swim meet.

Friday: Swimming in the morning, and there are some big yard sales around town today and tomorrow. Daddy has a wedding rehearsal tonight, so we'll probably do a movie for family night. We'll also need to have a family meeting before he goes.

Saturday: St. Veronica I'm thinking about getting them all new hankies to celebrate St. Veronica's feast day. Is that too weird?
Swim meet in the morning, and the Dad is off to wedding in the afternoon and early evening.

Sunday: Church in the am--we're doing the nursery!--and in the evening the symphony is playing in the park.

Sigh... I was also hoping to get some school going this week. Nothing major, but Story of the World, math, and Katie Grace's reading lessons. Who knows? Maybe we will!

Meal Plan Monday!

Monday: Potato scalloped with ham, green beans with mint, homemade pudding
Tuesday: Pizza pinto beans, salad, smoothie pops for desert
Wednesday: Sloppy Joes on buns, veggie stix
Thursday: Bean goulash and salad or veggie stix leftovers
Friday: Homemade pizza and salad or veggie stix leftovers (See a theme? In the summer, I just prep a bunch and keep serving it until it's gone) and popcorn balls for desert
Saturday: Chicken wings, salad/veggie stix, potatoes
Sunday: Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

This is a healing song... it helps when things go wrong...

We had a bit of a mishap at the grocery store. Nicholas, in his usual be-bopping way, be-bopped in front of me and tripped me. I scraped up my knee, my back is sore, and, although my mama instinct kicked in and I put my hand behind the baby's head so he wouldn't smash it on the ground (he was in the sling and I fell forward), I managed to bend my hand at an angle I am fairly certain it isn't meant to go.

The whole thing left me feeling very sore and achy. I also have a headache and feel generally out of sorts. I came home and took some arnica, which helped a little. But the whole ordeal made me think of how the children must feel after a particularly hard tumble. It really is a shock to the whole system! (At least, this is what I choose to believe and not, as DH says, that I am just getting old!)

When searching for the arnica, I thought of the Healing Basket we had when the children were smaller. Now I keep my meds and herbals waaaaaaaay up high where little hands can't reach them, homeopathics in one plastic bin, herbs in another, cough and cold remedies in another. The salves are all in a little crock downstairs on top of the hutch, as are the allopathic remedies.

Back in the day, when it was a more hopping list, WE_HS had a great discussion on healing or "boo boo" baskets. Ours had kid salve, arnica (both pellets and gel), band-aids, Schweitzter fluid, rose water for "fairy kisses" when a boo boo didn't really need any physical attention, Weleda calendula, wound, and burn ointments, and the Healing Pig, an herbal animal you can heat up and cuddle up to.

All this sat atop my favorite health and healing book for little ones, Your Vital Child: A Natural Healing Guide for Caring Parents by Mark and Angela Strengler.

I'd really like to get a basket like this together again. I'll post pictures when I do!

Deal Alert! Staples Back-to-School Deals

I'm new to this whole deal thing. Seriously. I'm just barely dipping my toes in compared to some of the other mama bloggers out there--Deal Finding Mom, Frugal Village, Homeschooling and Frugal, Mommy Making Money, Money Saving Mom... I'm looking at you all!--but I did want to share some Staples deals.

These are good from today (Sunday, July 6) through Wednesday, July 9.

2-pocket paper folders
1 cent each (Limit 10)

Dixon #2 yellow pencils/ 8 pack
1 cent each (Limit 2)

Purell 0.5 oz bottle
1 cent each (Limit 2)

1/2" and 1" poly assorted binders
25 cents each (Limit 4)

Pentel handy Line retractable highlighters
$4.99 - $4.99 easy rebate = FREE! (Limit 1)

Even if you can't or don't use these things, they can always be donated! There are various other deals that might work with your family in the circular, but these are the ones that are cheap and easy.

Also, don't forget to sign up for Teacher Rewards. You get quarterly rewards that really help out the homeschool mom's budget!

Going... going... gone!

On Monday, I had my first haircut since I was pregnant with Nicholas. For those keeping score, he will be five at the end of September.

Not only was a getting a haircut, but I was leaving Daniel (and the other three!) with my good friend from down the street who really made this whole thing possible. She even made my appointment!

I don't take great pictures, but here are some of my new 'do. She took 13 inches (give or take) off my head! It's not as poofy as when she cut it. I don't usually blow-dry my hair, which I guess I need to do if I want height, and I need to get a bigger curling iron.

Now I want new glasses!

Cherry Picking!

Yesterday we picked up the van from the shop... again... and dropped Daddy off at the church. Then the four kids and I went cherry picking at Mountain View Farm!

We picked 15 pounds of cherries. Well, I picked 15 pounds of cherries. Michael picked about a dozen and decided to go read Superfudge and Katie Grace kept picking alongside of me, but really ate more than she picked. Daniel tried to pick cherries from the backpack but, alas, was thwarted at every turn, and Nicholas picked cherries that I later found in his pocket. He was saving them for his stuffed fruit bat. I love him like a son, but he is one odd child.

We filled the bucket with 15 pounds of cherries and paid 15 dollars. Awesome deal, if you ask me! We also saw tons of cicadas and learned how the orchard owners used a sound system with taped bird sounds to scare away any cherry-eating birdies. I'm totally counting it as our first day of 2008-2009 homeschooling!

Mostly we froze them, but I did manage to make a huge batch of cherry vanilla ice cream in the ice cream maker. Tonight I boiled some down and made a cherry glaze, which we had with a big hunk of ham that got sent home with us after Sunday's Pastor Potluck. Yum!