Some fun pictures!!

This is Breanna today:

She got some dress up clothes for her birthday

Blowing a kiss to all her adoring fans ;)

These were taken before church on Sunday:

Breanna was going shopping with Sabian our cat!And he didn't like it all that much
Posing
Being silly with an old cell phone
Being goofy with his offering

Absent

Nothing to write about...We've been trucking along with school work, enjoying the weather, finishing up bathroom details, taking kids to gymnastics and trying to plan our summer vacation. We might not go anywhere this year, we might just do some well needed work on the yard. Our back fence needs to be replaced, I would love to build a little deck onto the front of our house, and we need to paint the walls on our whole main floor. I will keep you posted if we do any of those things this summer, or all of them ;)

We are waiting for the arrival of niece of nephew #7 (altogether, both sides) , and grandchild #9 for my parents. My baby sister is due with her second child in less than a month!!! I get to be in there again, as I was the first time. It was an incredible experience (I only had c-sections). Cari did amazing! I can't wait for the phone call!!!

We've all predicted day,gender and weight:

Michael~girl~May 22nd~7lbs 6oz
Ara~boy~May 11th~8lbs 6oz
Emmalee~boy~May 15th~6lbs 11oz
Noah~boy~May 20th~8lbs 11oz
Alexa~girl~May 8th~9lbs
Breanna~girl~May 2nd~9lbs

This is Cari, my sister and Allie her daughter

Eliana is in Surgery right now!!

Please Pray for her, and for the Dr's and the family!! Sounds like things are going well!!!


http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LeslieNelsen/

Home Schooling & Pics!!

It has been a really good home schooling week. We've got alot done, and are having fun. We've set rules for our school room and they are following them. We aren't allowed in there till 9 and when it is 9, they are right in there, without me having to tell them. Whoo hoo!! I am still doing my quiet time in the morning, and was pleasently pleased this morning when I had over an hour (yesterday was only about 30 minutes and the day before even shorter, about 20 minutes). This is our school room---->

I want to share some pictures with you from the last few days, just cute kid pictures...........

Breanna sleeping on the way to S'toon

All the kids sleeping on the way to S'toon

Hubby and kids swimming @ hotel in S'toon

(our balcony overlooked the pool,

I was really sick, and was sleeping prior to picture)

Kids 'reading' some fun books (only one of these 3 can really read)

Breanna just being silly (that is a 10gallon pail)

Have a great weekend, and all those living near us, enjoy the fabulous weather forecasted for this weekend!!!

{ELIANA JOY NELSEN}

I can't seem to get the link to post as a link to the picture, so I am just going to post her blog address here instead: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LeslieNelsen/
She is having open heart surgery on Monday, April 16th. Pray for the family! The link works on the side and I will keep that there until she is fully recovered from her surgery!!

Homemaker:

Homemaker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"A homemaker is a person whose prime occupation is to care for their family and/or home; the term is originally an Americanism, and while it has entered mainstream English, it is not in common usage outside the U.S. Finding a term to describe the modern man or woman who has left the paid workforce to care for their family is problematic. The term homemaker is used in preference to either housewife or househusband because it is inclusive, defines the role in terms of activities, rather than relation to another, and is independent of marital status. The terms (informal) stay-at-home mom and stay-at-home dad are also used, particularly if the person views their central role as caring for children. The euphemistic term "domestic engineer" has gone out of favor, being seen by some as satirical, as if to give a sense of mock dignity to a role held in low esteem by the speaker or writer. Likewise, the term "housekeeper" has come to describe hired cleaning help, and is no longer used -- other than in a derogatory way -- to describe homemaking. None of these terms adequately convey the diversity of activities an individual homemaker might choose to pursue, such as volunteer work, small-scale farming, education, religious ministry, political involvement, homeschooling, etc.

Traditionally the role of "homemaker" has been filled predominantly by women. It is still the case today that in many societies and groups, men and women alike view homemaking as the natural and most fulfilling

role for women. In recent years there has even been some political and societal backlash against "feminist" attacks on traditional roles for women; yet many who leave the workplace to become homemakers continue to respect other women's decision to pursue a career. This backlash may be attributed, at least in part, to both the increasing prominence of "professional" homemakers such as Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray, and a rise in religious conservatism which embraces traditional roles as being conducive to family stability and personal happiness. Homemaking is not always a lifetime commitment: many homemakers, for economic or personal reasons, return to the workplace."

Interesting. What an amazing role to fill. Yesterday was a day when I felt like a failure in my chosen profession, my house was a mess, I haven't been able to keep up, and was a little depressed about it all. Today is a new day, and feel like I have done a great job. The key for me is getting up with my husband and having about an hour, before the kids wake up, for my self. If I don't do this, I feel like my day is off. I LOVE sleep, and my bed, so this is a challenging task for me. I hate the sound of an alarm clock, and I hope to never use one, my darling husband wakes me up!! Another thing I've got to realize when I can't do it all today, is that it will be there tomorrow to do. Some thing are more pressing than others, but it will get done when it gets done. I love my husband, he understands completely that it's a hard task, and he doesn't expect me to 'do it all'.

I want to make things a bit easier with the day to day tasks so I've started to do something I've been wanting to do for like ever....well, since I heard about it, maybe 4 or 5 yrs ago. It's called Meal-Planning. Yes, what a novel idea!! Seriously, it's going to make things alot easier. I sat down last night and planned meals till next week Wednesday. I need to do this once a week, plan the meals and make sure we have what we need for those meals. I hope that now I've started it will make things alot easier. And that I can keep up with it from week to week.

I have also enlisted the children's help, which I've been doing for years, but making charts, and chores to do regularly, instead of every second day.

You stay at home moms, or should I call you Domestic Engineers, what do you do to make things easier? How do you make your house run smoothly? How do you keep yourself from becoming a lazy bones? That's my hardest challenge, my butt like to sit...lol Once I start cleaning, I enjoy it, it's just the starting part...

Please post what works for you!!! Have a great week!! We have nothing on this week, enjoying our nights together!