I love.....

I love being a mother. I love being pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding, cuddling babies, toddlers and even 18 year olds! I even love changing babies nappies, and giving them baths.

  I love to look at  my childrens faces and marvel at their similarities and differences. I love their zest in the morning when I can barely wake up.

  I love to watch their first tentative steps turn into bold cartwheels in a few short years. I love to watch them love each other. I love it when they want another baby as much as I do.

  Children are wonderful!

  God bless,

  Jenny

Growing Up

It seems like just yesterday I was looking into the eyes of my newborn baby daughter with her shock of fuzzy brown hair. Now, as she prepares to try her wings out, flying from home into the wide world, I find that my own outlook on life has changed.

  I remember being that teenager, looking forward to university days and what lay beyond. Now (many years later!), I am the mum, looking at life from an older point of view. Still excited about what adventures lay ahead, but also realising how quickly the last years have gone by, and how precious the time is!

  I realise that I need to make the most of every moment with my other little ones, because soon they too will be trying out their wings and flying from the nest.

So I am going to enjoy the potty training, learning to walk, the  getting into mischief part of life. I am going to enjoy teaching my little ones to read and write, teach them their mathematics and all about God, because I know that these days will all too soon be gone and one day be just precious memories.

  Enjoy your children at whatever stage they are at.

  God Bless,

  Jenny

A Simple woman's Daybook

Outside my window....  the sun is shining and I can hear the children playing in the yard.

I am thinking...  that  I wish I were a morning person. I love early morning sounds!

From the learning rooms... Nicholas' reading is coming along so well. He is learning ee sounds.

In the kitchen... Bread is cooking for lunch. Yum

I am wearing... my usual denim skirt with a long sleeved shirt. My ankle is still bound up from when I sprained it, so I have joggers on to support it.

 I am creating... soap!

I am wondering... how to make our lives more full filling without just making us busy.

I am reading... " The Mom  You're Meant to Be" By Cheri Fuller

I am hoping... that the chicken pox has finally left our family.

I am looking forward to... Andrews holidays..7 whole weeks!

Around the house.... Emily and Nicholas are playing Trio and Jacob is playing with Duplo. Katie and Beth are playing an imaginative game outside, and Benjamin is joining in any way he can.

  From the creative mind of  The  Simple  Womans Daybook.

Spring....

  "All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirit soars."
                                                          -Helen Hayes

Seasons

All seasons in life present their own challenges.  As I sit here typing I  am looking out the window, rain is falling and the mist is closing in. It is really quiet beautiful. Inside on the other hand, I have house full of house bound toddlers, and an 18 year old with the chicken pox! The prospect of six more cases of chicken pox all under the age of 8 is entirely underwhelming, and I am tempted to just go back to bed! But of course I can not do that ( mores the pity), so I will bake a batch of choc chip cookies  in an attempt to appease the masses,  ( it usually works) and then as Elizabeth Elliot says, I will do the next thing.

  God Bless,
  Jenny

Family Life

Family life is constantly changing.  As individual members grow in creativity, spiritually, emotionally, and physically, so our family dynamic is changing day by day and  month by month, even minute by minute.

                                             Jacob, Bethany and Nicholas at the show

 I love what Edith Schaeffer  says in her book "What is a Family?", that one person needs to take responsibility for the family. To make the family that persons career, his or her life work.  What a wonderful thing to do. To be responsible  for the lives of baby and toddlers, girls and boys, husband or wife.

  God Bless,

   Jenny

There are always jobs to do.......

There are always jobs to do that I just don't like doing, and sorting clothes is one of them. With so many little bodies in this house, there is a lot of  clothing around that either doesn't fit or is the wrong season. Even though it is already the middle of winter, this week I finally tackled the summer clothes!  We are in the process of moving all the boys into one bedroom, so that meant that all of Nicholas' clothes needed to change rooms, plus I needed to take all the summer clothes out and store them.
  I usually take one child at a time, and go through their clothes putting summer ones away and any winter clothes that don't fit. They either get given to another child or stored in boxes. It is such a tedious job but I always feel really pleased with myself when it is done!

 God Bless,

  Jenny